The Supreme Court rejected a plea by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to quash the CBI investigation against him in a disproportionate assets case. The court upheld the Karnataka High Court’s October 2023 decision, which allowed the CBI to continue its probe.
A Bench presided over by Justice Bela M Trivedi declined to interfere with the October 2023 decision of the Karnataka High Court which had denied quashing the case registered against Shivakumar under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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In October 2020, the CBI had filed a criminal case under Sections 13 (2) and 13 (1) (e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act alleging that Shivakumar had amassed assets disproportionate to his income during his tenure as the energy minister in the previous Congress-led Karnataka government.
The case alleges that Shivakumar amassed assets worth Rs 74 crore between 2013 and 2018, disproportionate to his income during his tenure as energy minister in the previous Congress-led government. The CBI filed a criminal case in October 2020 under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The case over to the Lokayukta for investigation following the withdrawal of the consent to the CBI.
Although the current Congress government withdrew consent for the CBI probe in November 2023 and handed the case to the Lokayukta, the Supreme Court refused to intervene. Earlier, the court had quashed a related money laundering probe by the Enforcement Directorate against Shivakumar.
