"Congress government wants to malign me": HD Kumaraswamy on Lokayukta seeking sanction to file chargesheet against him

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 21 (ANI): Responding to SIT of the Karnataka Lokayukta letter seeking sanction for filing a chargesheet against HD Kumaraswamy in alleged mining land allotment, the JDS leader and Union Minister said that he had no role in the case and the Congress government wanted to malign him.
HD Kumaraswamy said, "From 2011 the allegations are going that one mining allotment was issued in my tenure. The allegation is that when I was the Chief Minister in the year 2007, I favoured Sai Venkateshwara. There are allegations that I have collected 150 crores from mining owners. So I requested Lokayukta to start an inquiry about the same. They started the enquiry in 2011 and several findings have come out. That enquiry report was submitted by the Lokayukta to the Government in 2010 or 2011. There is no exchequer loss. Till now no mining area has been allocated to anyone."
"In my case, the Supreme Court gave the direction on the interference of the present Congress Government in the year 2014- 15 headed by Siddaramaiah. They appealed in the Court and asked for enquiry. The court permitted enquiry. The court ordered to complete the enquiry within 3 months and come up with the report. SC also directed not to go to any other court and SC will give the ultimate decision," he added.
He further said that now it's 2024, and the SIT hasn't completed the investigation yet.
"The SIT went to the Supreme Court 2 to 3 times but only filed the status report. Now after the Congress came to power in 2023, they went to the governor in November requesting sanction to file chargesheet against me. Then governor after a thorough study said that there was some controversy regarding the signature on the file, so directed to once again go through the case and come again," he said.
"The SIT of the Karnataka Lokayukta have even taken my statement, now they have filed the chargesheet. Let's see what happens. I have no role in the case. This government wants to malign me. But this is a dead case," he added.
On the allegations against CM Siddaramaiah, he said that the Chief Minister's wife requested to get compensatory land.
"CM's brother-in-law fabricated documents and acquired the land. The land belongs to MUDA. Everything has happened under Siddaramaiah only by misusing the office of the CM," he added.
Earlier Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that he wondered whether the Karnataka governor Thawar Chand Gehlot has not discriminated against him after granting immediate permission to prosecute him in the alleged MUDA 'scam' while following a delaying approach in the case of HD Kumaraswamy.
"Has the governor not discriminated by giving immediate permission for prosecution against me? In the case of former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, the Governor has been following a delay policy but he has permitted the prosecution without relying on any investigation report against me. Is this not discrimination?", CM told reporters in Koppal on Wednesday.
In a post on X, the Karnataka CM said that the Lokayukta Special Investigation Team sought permission for prosecution against the Janata Dal (Secular) leader in the alleged illegal mining case but the governor did not take any action.
Karnataka CM added, " In HD Kumarawamy's case, the Governor is following a delaying approach, but he has allowed prosecution against me without any investigation report. What else is this but discrimination?"
"Kumaraswamy is already scared. They are worried that the governor may allow an investigation into the illegal mining case. Lokayukta SIT submitted an investigation report against him and sought permission for prosecution, but as the Governor took no action, SIT applied again," CM added. (ANI)