Mysuru: City police on Saturday registered an
FIR against former chief minister Siddaramaiah, and three other individuals in connection with a 20-year-old denotification case. The FIR has been filed in the wake of
RTI activist Gangaraju approaching a district court, alleging that,
Siddaramaiah had, in 1998, when he was deputy CM, denotified 30 guntas in Hinkal. The property in question belonged to former president of the Hinkal gram panchayat Papanna.
The other three individuals named in the FIR are former Mysuru Urban Development Authority chairmen C Basavegowda and D Dhruvakumar, and former Muda commissioner PS Kantharaju.
Police have registered the case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including criminal conspiracy and cheating.
The complaint by Gangaraju states that Siddaramaiah, who owned 10 guntas on the adjoining property acquired additional land and constructed a house on the same. “Although Siddaramaiah sold the property, he used his influence to get Muda to allot the site to property owners,” the complaint states.
“The FIR has been registered on the directions of the principal senior civil judge. Police will investigate the case,” said city police commissioner A Subramanyeshwar Rao.
Progressive forum wants FIR quashed
Extending their support to former chief minister Siddaramaiah, against whom an FIR has been filed following denotification allegations leveled against him by an RTI activist, members of the Karnataka State Progressive Thinkers’ Forum on Saturday dubbed the case a ‘conspiracy’ by the senior leader’s rivals in Mysuru.
“This is a conspiracy hatched by Siddaramaiah’s political rivals in the Mysuru region. They are looking to end his political career, but that is not going to happen. Siddaramaiah has emerged as a strong leader over the years,” said the president of the forum KC
Puttasiddashetty.
Demanding that the FIR against the former CM be quashed, Puttasiddashetty said, “Siddaramaiah is innocent, and he should not be named as an accused in the case.”
The forum president said that Siddaramaiah could topple the state government if he chose to do so. “The JD(S)-Congress alliance can be overthrown by Siddaramaiah at any time. If he makes up his mind, the Karnataka government will cease to exist,” Puttasiddashetty said.
Accusing RTI activist N Gangaraju, who has filed the complaint against the former CM, of misusing the act, Puttasiddashetty said, “The case he is talking about is 25 years old. What was Gangaraju doing all these years? There are a few political leaders with ulterior motives backing him.”
Puttasiddashetty called for the forming of a fact-finding committee comprising the Mysuru city police commissioner and the deputy commissioner to look into the veracity of his claims.
Stating that they did not want Siddaramaiah facing such humiliation, Puttasiddashetty said that members of the forum would launch a massive protest if the former’s name was not excluded from the FIR.