A S Ponnanna
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Taking exception to the ED’s decision to investigate the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site-allotment case, Chief Minister’s Legal Advisor A S Ponnanna on Tuesday termed the agency’s decision “illegal” as the Lokayukta had already conducted a court-ordered probe into the issue.
Speaking to reporters, Ponnanna said: “The then MUDA commissioner Natesh’s house has been searched and he has been served a notice under section 15. On this issue, he submitted a writ petition before the Supreme Court, where the order was delivered in his favour.”
He noted that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife B M Parvathy and Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh had been served a notice under section 15 by the ED to submit some documents and appear before the ED to record their statements.
“The ED has to specify where exactly the money laundering happened. But they aren’t doing it and are using the agency for political purposes,” said Ponnanna, who is also the Virajpet MLA.
An independent institution
When they have only agreed that the Lokayukta is an independent institution, how can they argue that the investigation by the independent institution is not independent, he sought to know.
Noting that the petitioners had sought an investigation by the CBI even before the Lokayukta filed an FIR in the case, Ponnanna said the petitioner had no right to speak about the transparency of the investigation. He also wondered why the notice had been served to B S Suresha (Byrathi) who became the Urban Development Minister in 2023, when the MUDA case related to 2021 when Basvaraj Bommai was the chief minister and Byrathi Basavaraj was the UD minister.