Siddaramaiah will not resign, HC order not satisfactory, says K’taka Home Minister

Bengaluru,:Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Wednesday said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will not resign from the post after the High Court order in the MUDA case and that the legal fight will further be taken up as the judgement “was not satisfactory”. 

“We have not got justice and the judgement is not satisfactory,” said Parameshwara while commenting on the High Court’s upholding Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s decision on giving consent to proceed against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam case.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Parameshwara said, “While the arguments were placed, the bench had specifically asked the counsels to present the role of the Chief Minister in the MUDA case. But, in the judgement, the role of CM is not explained. The judgement should have spoken about the CM’s role. The judgement is conveying that the observations made in the court hall and the verdict that has come are different.”

The CM and his legal team would take a call on approaching the double bench and further the Supreme Court, he stated.

“The order says, there is a provision which says the Governor has to take the advice of the council of ministers. After saying this, there is a rider which says that the Governor can use his discretion. The order also says, that while using discretion the Governor must give reasons and justify which is not seen,” he stated.

“When senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi was placing his arguments for CM Siddaramaiah, he submitted that the Governor had not applied his mind. But, in the judgement, it has mentioned that the Governor has applied his mind in all seriousness. We have seen the contradictions. We have not got justice and the judgement is not satisfactory,” Parameshwara stated.

When asked about proceedings in the lower court against CM Siddaramaiah, he said, “We don’t know what will come out of the Special Court for MLAs/MPs, which is likely to pass the orders on investigation in the MUDA case. What should we do if there is an adverse verdict from this court also? We hope that the judicious decision will be taken in the lower court.”

“We had approached the Karnataka High Court for justice. In the MUDA scam, we had submitted to the court that there is no role of the Chief Minister, he has not given his signature to any of the files and there is no misuse of power on his side. We have got an adverse verdict. The court’s decision has to be respected at the same time; we also get it in our minds that we didn’t get justice in the case. The Chief Minister has clearly expressed that he will take up a legal battle. We will do it,” Parameshwara stated.

“However, the demands are being made for his resignation and stepping down from his position. Many party leaders have clarified that there is no need as such for his resignation and I also make it clear that there is no need for CM Siddaramaiah to tender his resignation,” he maintained. “The reason is we are making an appeal over the judgement and pursuing the legal battle,” he added.

When asked whether the verdict is a black mark on CM Siddaramaiah, he stated, “For anyone who had not faced any allegations for 40 to 45 years would feel that, as it is done with political ill will. It is natural that he will get hurt over the allegations. We will have to agitate over this, this being done for political purposes and we will bring this before the people.”

“The Governor would have got the upper hand following the court’s decision. But he will have to act against Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, BJP former ministers Shashikala Jolle, Murugesh Nirani and Janardhana Reddy. It won’t look good if the action is taken only against one person. It is not judicious. The files in this regard are sent back by the Governor to Lokayukta, will be sent to him with clarifications and he will have to give his consent,” he stated.

The Governor has not sent Union Minister Kumaraswamy’s file for clarification. It is with him. He will have to act on it, Parameshwara demanded.

About approaching the President, he said, “We have to see the decision of the party, the State President D.K. Shivakumar and the high command.”

“It is the BJP’s objective to get the resignation of CM Siddaramaiah and they have launched protests but it won’t be considered. We have conveyed to CM Siddaramaiah that he should not resign. He should not resign from his post for any reason,” he emphasized.

“CM has repeatedly announced that he will not resign because of the BJP’s pressure, not because of internal pressure. We don’t have internal differences within the party. Senior party leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and K.C. Venugopal have clearly told that the high command is with CM Siddaramaiah,” Parameshwara clarified.