BENGALURU: The Karnataka Lokayukta police have started the investigation into the alleged Rs 74.93 crore disproportionate assets case against Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president DK Shivakumar, though the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) did not respond to the request made by them to transfer details and records of the investigation done by it till the consent granted was withdrawn by the State Government.
The investigating officers of the Lokayukta have issued notices to the various agencies seeking details of properties, income, and expenditures of Shivakumar.
The officials in Lokayukta, however, declined to specify the name of the particular agencies for which the notice was issued and divulge the details of the investigation.
The officials said that they had written to the CBI immediately after the registration of the FIR under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Shivakumar to transfer the details of the investigation done so far because they are the primary documents of the investigation required for the probe. The CBI, however, did not respond.
The previous BJP government granted consent to the CBI on September 25, 2019, to probe the DA case against Shivakumar. However, the Congress government withdrew the consent by way of notification dated November 28, 2023, and later the case was transferred to the Lokayukta police for investigation on December 22, 2023.
The Lokayukta police, however, registered the FIR in the second week of February 2024, almost 50 days after the case was transferred to them by the State Government.
Meanwhile, the CBI has challenged the legality of transferring the FIR registered by it and transferring the case to the Lokayukta before the High Court of Karnataka. BJP MLA Basanagouda R Patil has also challenged the same. Both are pending before the HC for adjudication.
In 2017, the Income Tax Department conducted a raid on the premises belonging to Shivakumar. Based on the details found during the I-T raids, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started its probe under the provisions of the Money Laundering Act.
As the probe revealed that Shivakumar allegedly possessed disproportionate assets for the period between 2013 and 2018 when he was a cabinet minister, the ED wrote to the State Government to conduct an investigation under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.