The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to quash CBI proceedings against him in an alleged Disproportionate Assets (DA) case. A bench led by Justice Bela M Trivedi chose not to interfere with the Karnataka High Court's October 2023 decision, which also refused to quash the case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In the October ruling, Justice K Natarajan of the Karnataka High Court lifted the stay order on the CBI probe and directed the agency to file its report within three months. The CBI had filed the case in October 2020, accusing Shivakumar of amassing assets worth Rs 74 crore, disproportionate to his income, during his tenure as the energy minister in the previous Congress-led Karnataka government.
The case was initially handed over to the CBI by the then BJP-led Karnataka government under Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa. However, the current Congress government, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, withdrew consent for the CBI probe into the DA matter on November 28, 2023, and transferred the investigation to the Lokayukta.
The ED's investigation, based on a charge sheet filed by the Income Tax Department, targeted Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah (an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi), and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Despite the quashing of the money laundering case, the DA case against Shivakumar persists, with the Supreme Court's recent decision reinforcing the ongoing legal scrutiny against him. This development continues to spotlight the allegations of corruption against a prominent figure in Karnataka politics.