Not difficult to understand why Guv is selective, says Siddaramaiah

Siddaramaiah lashed out at Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Tuesday over what he termed to be a "selective" and "mala fida" approach as far as granting consent for investigation against Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy was concerned.

Speaking to the media here, Siddaramaiah flayed the Governor's actions, pointing out that though the Lokayukta SIT applied in November 2023 for permission to file a charge sheet against Kumaraswamy in the SSVM case, the Governor has failed to give his consent.

"While in my case he took a different stand and sent the show-cause notice within a day. It is not hard to guess why the Governor is acting with such bias," Siddaramiah said while comparing his case with that of Kumaraswamy's.
He also confirmed that the SIT had approached the governor once again to press for prosecution against Kumaraswamy.

Siddaramaiah also questioned the Governor's alacrity in giving sanction for an investigation in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority land case. He asked why so much of hurry in his case when nothing similar was done in the case of Kumaraswamy on similar grounds.

"No involvement, no letter, or order from me. Yet, an investigation in the MUDA case has been carried out," Siddaramaiah said categorically.

The SSVM case is related to illegal activities from 2007 when Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister and accuses him of awarding the mining contract for 550 acres to the SSVM Company.

The SIT's probe is based on a report on illegal mining by then Karnataka Lokayukta, Justice N. Santhosh Hegde. Kumaraswamy is charged under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, IPC, and the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act. The SIT had initially sought the Governor's sanction on November 21, 2023, to file a chargesheet against him.

On July 29, 2024, the Governor responded with a letter to the SIT seeking clarifications. It is this set of clarifications that were furnished on Monday, along with the renewed request for permission to file the charge sheet against Kumaraswamy.