Disproportionate Assets Case: Karnataka HC Dismisses Congress Chief Shivakumar Plea Against CBI Probe

The Karnataka High Court recently dismissed a petition filed by state Congress president D K Shivakumar challenging the BJP led state government’s decision seeking Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against him in a disproportionate assets case.

A single-judge bench of Justice K Natarajan dismissed his petition.

The state government granted the sanction on September 25, 2019, in response to the investigating agency’s request, and it filed a FIR against Shivakumar on October 3, 2020.

The Congress leader had challenged both the sanction and the FIR in two separate petitions before the Karnataka High Court.

Notably, the Income Tax Department conducted a search and seizure operation in Shivakumar’s offices and residence in 2017. Based on that, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched an investigation into him, and the CBI sought permission from the state government to file a FIR against the Congress leader.

He had further challenged the sanction on the grounds that it was a politically motivated FIR and that he had previously faced three FIRs for disproportionate income.

According to Shivakumar’s petition, because he was an MLA at the time the government granted the sanction, permission from the Speaker of the Assembly was required, which was not obtained in this case, and the government also did not state the reasons for granting the sanction.

However, the investigating agency objected to the plea, claiming that the accused cannot specify which agency should conduct the investigation.

It was claimed that 90% of the investigation was completed, and the CBI submitted a status report to the court. The petition was sought to be dismissed because it was a special case involving disproportionate income.

It is worth noting that the development comes ahead of the crucial Karnataka Assembly elections scheduled for May 10. DK Shivakumar, along with Siddharamaiah, is a frontrunner to become the next chief minister of Karnataka.