Bengaluru/IBNS: In a setback for Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the High Court on Tuesday rejected the Congress veteran's plea challenging Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's approval for a probe against the state's administrative head in connection with the alleged irregularities in the land allocation by Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

A Karnataka High Court bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna said the Governor "did apply his mind in abundance" in sanctioning the prosecution.

"The order (by the Governor) does not suffer from non-application of mind... There is no fault in the Governor's actions. The facts narrated need investigation. The petition stands dismissed," said the judge as quoted by NDTV.

The High Court has also rejected the plea of advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who appeared for Siddaramaiah, seeking a stay on the order for two weeks.

The opposition BJP has accused MUDA of illegally allotting an alternative site to Siddaramaiah's wife Parvati.

Coming under fire, Siddaramaiah said the government is probing into the allegations and all allocations by MUDA have been suspended.

In a press statement, Siddaramaiah had termed the Governor's decision "anti-Constitution" and "contrary to the law."

Siddaramaiah also alleged that it was a "conspiracy to dislodge a democratically elected government by the BJP, JD(S), and others".

What is the MUDA scam?

The MUDA 50:50 scheme, which was introduced in 2009 but was scrapped in 2020 by the then BJP government, promises land owners 50 percent of the developed land per acre which they give up.

Though it was scrapped in 2020, MUDA continued to allot land under the scheme.

MUDA continued even after the government ordered twice in the last six months asking it to cancel all allotments until clear guidelines are issued.

It is suspected that the sites were alloted to influential people and real estate agents instead of giving them to the eligible beneficiaries.