On a day he presented his 16th budget, Karnataka Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah received good news as Karnataka High Court dismissed Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons to his wife and another minister in the alleged MUDA scam.

Coming as it does close on the heels of a clean chit to him and his wife in the case, the high court set aside the summons of the ED to Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi, and Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh in the MUDA case is a big relief not only to him personally but also to the Karnataka government as there were attempts to destabilise the government under the ruse of the corruption case, Congress leaders said.

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Siddaramaiah and his colleagues have long been saying that there was no substance in the case. Even the courts upheld the investigation so far and refused to hand over the case to the CBI as was being demanded by the BJP. For sure it’s a major boost to Siddaramaih with Justice M Nagaprasanna giving relief to the CM, his wife, and Minister B Suresh.

The high court also dismissed a plea that sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter. It ruled that an independent inquiry was already being carried out by the Karnataka Lokayukta, making a CBI investigation unnecessary.

The earlier Karnataka order on CBI probe came a day after Karnataka Lokayukta SP Udesh submitted an interim 8,000-page B Report on the case, stating that the allegations were “not actionable.”

After this, the Lokayukta will be filing a final report before the competent court.

The Lokayukta said accusations against the four individuals involved in the case were either civil in nature, misinterpretations of legal provisions, or beyond the scope of criminal prosecution. Even the Karnataka Lokayukta Police had said that complainant Snehamayi Krishna’s claims regarding the MUDA scam could not be substantiated due to lack of evidence.

Now, the court ruling predictably sharpened the Congress attack on the BJP on this issue. Leading the attack was deputy CM DK Shivakumar blasting the Opposition BJP and JDS for mounting a politically-motivated conspiracy against the CM and the government.

“I had stated long ago that the BJP and JDS were using this issue for political gains. They even held a padayatra from Bengaluru to Mysuru, but when there is no signature of CM Siddaramaiah on any documents, how can he be involved,” he asked while speaking to media persons at his residence after the verdict of the court.

Another Congress leader, IT and BT Minister Priyank Kharge said the Lokayukta had earlier given a clean chit to the CM and his family.

“CM Siddaramaiah had always maintained that there was no scam and no involvement of his family members and the investigation has confirmed that. We are not here to satisfy the BJP. The same Lokayukta had previously given clean chit to BJP leaders, and back then, the BJP had no issues with it.”