BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday dismissed petitions challenging the state government's decision to withdraw consent for a CBI investigation into Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in a disproportionate assets case.
Notably, the CBI had challenged the Congress government's decision to withdraw the consent to investigate and prosecute DK Shivakumar, which was granted by the then Yediyurappa-led BJP government on September 25, 2019. BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal also filed a petition challenging the current Karnataka govt's decision.
A division bench of Justice K Somashekar and Justice Umesh M Adiga pronounced the judgement dismissing the petitions on the ground that both the petitions are not maintainable.
The court observed that the issue is between the authority of central government and the state's autonomy and granted liberty to the petitioners to approach the Supreme Court for remedy under Article 131 of the constitution.
At a later point in time, the CBI also challenged another government order dated December 22, 2023, followed by the corrigendum dated December 26, 2023, through which the investigation of the case against Shivakumar was entrusted to the Lokayukta police.
Defending the action of the state, Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty contended before the high court that petitions lack locus standi as per the verdict of the apex court, which broadly postulates that a third party cannot meddle with the criminal proceedings.
Senior advocate P Prasanna Kumar, representing the CBI, and advocate Venkatesh P Dalwai, counsel for Yatnal, contended that almost in identical circumstances the apex court has taken the view that once ‘consent’ is accorded by the state government under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, it cannot be withdrawn, and in any case, the withdrawal cannot have retrospective effect.
Therefore, the investigation by the CBI should continue and culminate into the final product in accordance with law, they argued.
Notably, the Income Tax Department had conducted multiple raids on Shivakumar’s premises in 2017. Based on that, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started its investigation. Following the ED investigation, the CBI had sought sanction from the state government to register an FIR against Shivakumar under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The agency had claimed that it collected a total of Rs 8,59,69,100 during its investigation, with Rs 41 lakhs allegedly recovered from DK Shivakumar's premises. It also claimed that Shivakumar had failed to explain the origin of this amount, leading to further suspicion.