Special court orders further probe into bribery complaint against Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: A special court for MPs and MLAs has directed the Lokayukta police to conduct further investigations into a bribery case against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Special judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat passed the order while rejecting the closure report (B report) dated June 7, 2023, and directed the investigation officer to submit the report within six months.

The complainant in the case, the BJP's former BBMP corporator NR Ramesh, alleged that Siddaramaiah had received pecuniary benefits during his tenure as the chief minister from May 13, 2013, to May 17, 2018.

He alleged that Siddaramaiah had received Rs 1.3 crore from a person named L Vivekananda alias Kings Court Vivek and that this transaction was reflected both in the income tax returns as well as the affidavit filed by Siddaramaiah.

Soon after this transaction, the state government nominated Vivekananda as a member of the managing committee and a steward to Bangalore Turf Club Limited (BTCL).

It was submitted that six of the nine stewards and four of the five committee members are elected among the club members and the remaining three stewards and one committee member are nominated by the state government.

The Lokayukta police filed the closure report stating that no act of quid pro quo was made out against Siddaramaiah. It was also submitted that the complainant did not turn up when asked to furnish necessary details on or before June 4, 2023.

The special court observed that the Lokayukta police had received a letter from Siddaramaiah on June 5, 2023, admitting to borrowing money from Vivekananda and that he had utilised it to purchase a house site.

The court noted that the investigating agency has narrated the appointment as only an honorary post. "..firstly, the Investigating Agency should have investigated whether providing an honorary post would also attract the rigors of Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of  Corruption Act, which would be conceptualised as a corrupt act coming within the purview of the PC Act," the court said.

"As could be noticed from the statement made by accused No.1 (Siddaramaiah) it is ipse dixit that he had borrowed a sum of Rs 1.3 crore from accused No.2 (Vivekananda) and also it is not a disputed fact that subsequently Accused No.2 was nominated by the state government as Steward of BTCL. The Investigating Agency, without looking into any other manner about the question of whether any corrupt practices indulged or not, had furnished the closure report/final report, on the basis of the self-serving statement of accused No.1 which is not proper in the eyes of law,” the court added.