MUDA scam: Senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi, Kapil Sibal arriving tomorrow

As Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has granted permission to prosecute Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the MUDA site allotment scam, senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal will arrive in Bengaluru on August 19, sources in the chief minister’s office said on Sunday.

The two top Supreme Court lawyers will meet the Karnataka chief minister and may appear on his behalf in the special court for public representatives, the sources added.

Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge refused to name the lawyers but dropped hints that constitutional experts will be flown in to Bengaluru.

“We will tackle it. We have the best constitutional experts being flown in. We have a lot of people within the state who are helping the government with this and we will take it up,” Kharge told reporters here.

The chief minister is facing a legal hurdle after Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot granted permission on Saturday to prosecute him in the alleged alternative site scam in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority on a complaint given by three activists.

The alleged scam relates to the allotment of sites to Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi in an upmarket area against the ‘illegal acquisition’ of her land measuring 3 acres, 16 guntas in Kesarur.

While the opposition BJP and its ally JD(S) have cried foul, the chief minister has refuted the charge saying it is baseless and malicious to defame him and destabilise the Congress government in the state.