Supreme Court Dismisses Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar 's Plea to Quash CBI 's Disproportionate Assets Case

Setback for Congress Leader in Ongoing Legal Battle

In a major setback for Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar , the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed his plea to quash a disproportionate assets case filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The top court's bench, comprising Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma, said it was not inclined to interfere with the Karnataka High Court's order that had rejected Shivakumar 's petition to quash the CBI's FIR.

CBI Allegations and Shivakumar 's Response

The CBI had filed the FIR against Shivakumar in September 2020, alleging that he had amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income between 2013 and 2018, when he was a minister in the previous Congress government in Karnataka.

Shivakumar challenged the FIR in the Karnataka High Court in 2021, but his plea was dismissed in October 2023. The high court also directed the CBI to conclude its investigation and file the report within three months.

Reacting to the Supreme Court's dismissal of his plea, Shivakumar said, "All of the scams have been created by the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP tenure is the father of scams which is why they have been thrown out by people. Now, we are trying to clean up everything. They aren't able to digest this since their names will come out."

Lengthy Legal Battle

The case has its origins in a 2017 Income Tax Department raid on Shivakumar 's premises, where unaccounted cash was allegedly recovered. This led to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also registering a case against the Congress leader.

Based on the ED's investigation, the CBI sought sanction from the Karnataka government in 2019 to file an FIR against Shivakumar . The state government granted the sanction, and the CBI filed the FIR a year later.

Shivakumar had challenged the sanction and proceedings against him in the Karnataka High Court, but his petition was dismissed in April 2023. He then filed an appeal before a division bench, which is still pending.

The CBI had also challenged the Karnataka government's decisions to withdraw consent for the agency to investigate Shivakumar 's assets and refer the matter to the state's Lokayukta. However, the Supreme Court refused to entertain the CBI's plea, stating that they were "purely interlocutory" orders.

Supreme Court's Observations

During the hearing, the Supreme Court bench noted the voluminous documents collected by the Income Tax Department, ED, and CBI in the case. The court also expressed its disapproval of the Karnataka High Court's order staying the sanction accorded to the CBI, stating that "How can High Court stay sanction? This is unheard of..."

With the Supreme Court's dismissal of Shivakumar 's plea, the CBI's investigation into the disproportionate assets case is set to continue, adding another chapter to the ongoing legal battle between the Congress leader and the central agency.