BENGALURU: The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday dismissed the petitions filed by the CBI and BJP MLA Basanagouda R Patil Yatnal, questioning the Siddaramaiah government’s decision to withdraw the previous BJP government’s consent to CBI to prosecute Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.
Terming that the petitions are not maintainable, the court granted liberty to the petitioners to approach the Supreme Court for remedy. Since the conflict is between the Union government’s authority, which represents the CBI, and the state’s autonomy, the SC has to settle it under Article 131 and not the high court, a division bench of Justices K Somashekar and Umesh M Adiga said in their order.
The petitioners challenged the notification issued by the Congress government on November 28, 2023, withdrawing the consent given to the CBI by the previous BJP government to prosecute Shivakumar.
The CBI also challenged another government order issued on December 22, 2023, followed by a corrigendum on December 26, 2023, through which the case against Shivakumar was entrusted to the Lokayukta Police for investigation. The Lokayukta Police registered a case on February 8 under the Prevention of Corruption Act and is probing it.
3rd party can’t meddle with proceedings: AG
Defending the state government’s action, Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty contended that the 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 CBI, and advocate Venkatesh P Dalwai, counsel for Yatnal, contended that almost in identical circumstances, the SC 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is accorded by the state government under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, it cannot be withdrawn.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 a retrospective effect.
Hence, the CBI’s investigation should continue in accordance with law, they argued. The Income Tax Department searched the premises of Shivakumar and is said to have recovered Rs 8.59 crore on August 2, 2017.
Consequently, a case was registered against him under the I-T Act before the Special Court for Economic Offences. Subsequently, the ED registered a case against him in 2019 and sent a letter to the state government under the provisions of the PML, seeking consent for investigation. The government granted consent to the CBI, which registered the case.
HC ADJOURNS CM’S PLEA HEARING TO SATURDAY
The Karnataka High Court on Thursday adjourned to Saturday the hearing on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s petition challenging the legality of Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s sanction for his prosecution in the MUDA case.