Lagatar24 Desk
Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has described the Supreme Court’s rejection of his petition challenging the CBI’s FIR in a disproportionate assets case as “unfair.” The senior Congress leader expressed his disappointment in an interview with NDTV, stating, “This is a setback. What to do? This is unfair.”
Shivakumar, who has been embroiled in legal battles over the case, highlighted the political nature of the investigations. He explained, “Everyone knows how political and vindictive… my issues have been going on. When the BJP government was there, they gave (the CBI) permission to register an FIR. I asked for it to be squashed, but they said they cannot.”
Despite the Karnataka government, now under Congress, withdrawing consent for the CBI investigation and transferring the case to the Lokayukta, the CBI continues its probe. “All this despite the government withdrawing consent,” Shivakumar noted.
Earlier today, a bench comprising Justice Bela Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma ruled that Shivakumar’s petition lacked merit, providing no grounds for the court to intervene in the case. This decision came after the Congress government last year revoked its consent for the CBI inquiry, a move Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claimed was necessitated by his predecessor, BJP’s BS Yediyurappa, who allegedly sanctioned the probe “illegally.” This withdrawal of consent has been criticized by opposition parties BJP and JDS, labeling it an “immoral” act to “protect” Shivakumar.
The CBI has accused DK Shivakumar of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income between 2013 and 2018, during his tenure as a minister in the Congress-led state government. The amount in question is believed to be Rs 74 crore. The CBI filed the case in 2020, and the FIR was subsequently challenged and dismissed by the High Court in 2021.
In November, the Karnataka government attempted to withdraw permission for the CBI to investigate Shivakumar, but the High Court lifted the stay and directed the CBI to submit a report within three months.
On a different note, DK Shivakumar addressed the ongoing Cauvery water-sharing issue between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. He expressed optimism, stating, “I am happy to say we are getting good rains. We should be in a better position in days to come.” Karnataka has decided to release only 8,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu, instead of the mandated 11,500 cusecs per day from July 12 to July 31. Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK, allied with Congress at the national level and in the state, plans to hold an all-party meeting to address the issue, with Chief Minister MK Stalin claiming Karnataka’s refusal violates the Supreme Court’s order.
