The Congress-led Karnataka government has greenlit a proposal to withdraw the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case investigating alleged disproportionate assets linked to Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. Sources reveal that the state cabinet considered the Home Department’s proposal, intending to transfer the investigation to either the state police or the anti-corruption authority Lokayukta.
Following the cabinet’s approval, the government is contemplating legal recourse, considering approaching the courts now that the proposal has received clearance.
Previously, during the BJP’s tenure, the case had been handed over to the CBI. Karnataka’s Advocate General, K Shashi Kiran Shetty, compiled the proposal for withdrawing the case against Mr. Shivakumar.
Despite Shivakumar’s plea to the Karnataka High Court to annul the Yeddyurappa government’s order, the court dismissed the request earlier this year in April. The court refrained from intervening, citing the CBI’s near-completion of its investigation, granting the agency a deadline till mid-January to submit its report.
The Enforcement Directorate had initiated its probe against Shivakumar based on income tax department searches in his residences and offices back in 2017. Subsequently, seeking state government sanction, the CBI received approval from the Yeddyurappa government in September 2019 to file a First Information Report (FIR).
In October 2020, the CBI officially filed the FIR against DK Shivakumar, marking a significant turn in the ongoing investigation.
Sources By Agencies
