MUDA case: Activist files defamation case against CM Siddaramaiah for calling him 'blackmailer'

Bengaluru: Advocate-activist T J Abraham on Wednesday said he has filed a defamation suit against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in a special court here for allegedly calling him a blackmailer.

He is among the petitioners who had urged Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to permit investigation against the Chief Minister in the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam.

“Siddaramaiah in his enthusiasm for vengeance against me made certain public statements. He called me a blackmailer and a person with bad antecedents,” Abraham told PTI.

“You (Siddaramaiah) have taken 14 sites by creating a bogus and illegal claim and you call me a blackmailer! I have filed a defamation case against you. We will see how you will escape,” he said.

In the MUDA case, it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been “acquired” by the MUDA.

The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.

Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.

It is alleged that Parvathi had no legal title over this 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kasare village, Kasaba hobli of Mysuru taluk Karnataka Lokayukta police, and the Directorate of Enforcement have launched an investigation into the ‘scam’.

The Chief Minister has denied any wrongdoing in the alleged scam.

Based on the petition filed by Abraham, the Governor issued a notice to the Chief Minister on July 26 directing him to submit his reply to the allegations against him within seven days justifying why permission to prosecute him should not be granted.

On August 2, Siddaramaiah told reporters: “….further, if you look at T J Abraham’s antecedents, he is a blackmailer. Acting on his complaint is illegal. He has been giving complaints against several people like this. I have not committed any such offence.”