New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed an appeal filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging the Karnataka High Court’s decision to quash summons issued to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife, BM Parvathi, in connection with the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam case.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran observed that political battles should be fought outside the court and questioned the ED’s role in pursuing such cases.
“Unfortunately, I have some experience in Maharashtra. Please do not force us to say something. Otherwise, we will have to say something very harsh about the Enforcement Directorate. Let political battles be fought among the electorate. Why are you being used for it?” CJI Gavai remarked.
Appearing for the ED, additional solicitor general SV Raju said, “Okay, we will withdraw. But let it not be treated as a precedent.”
Rejecting the appeal, the court said it found no error in the reasoning adopted by the High Court single judge who had quashed the summons. “We do not find any error in the reasoning adopted in the approach of the single judge. In the peculiar facts and circumstances, we dismiss it. We should thank you, ASG, for saving some harsh comments,” the bench added.
The case relates to allegations of corruption and irregular allocation of land by MUDA to Parvathi.
As per the complaint, over three acres of land were ‘gifted’ to her by her brother Swamy, who had bought it in 2004 after it was acquired and de-notified.
Although MUDA developed the land despite its private ownership, Parvathi sought compensation, allegedly receiving inflated compensation, including 14 developed alternate plots valued far higher than the original land under a 50:50 scheme. She later surrendered the land back to the authorities.
Earlier, on March 7, Justice M Nagaprasanna of the Karnataka High Court quashed the ED’s summons issued to Parvathi as well as to Minister Byrathi Suresh, who was not named as an accused but was sought to be questioned by the agency. This led to the ED approaching the apex court, which has now upheld the High Court’s decision.
