Big relief for DK Shivakumar: Karnataka HC rejects CBI plea to allow probe against deputy CM in illegal assets case  

In a big relief to Karnataka Deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar, a division bench of the Karnataka High Court on August 29 rejected a plea demanding a CBI investigation in disproportionate assets case.  

A division bench comprising Justices K Somashekhar and Umesh Adiga dismissed the CBI challenge of a November 28, 2023, decision of the state government to withdraw consent to probe alleged illegal assets of Shivakumar, and a December 26, 2023 state order to refer the matter to the Karnataka Lokayukta for a probe. 

The High Court said the matters raised in the pleas have to be addressed by the Supreme Court. 

The state government had withdrawn an earlier order passed by the BJP government led by BS Yediyurappa for an inquiry by the federal agency. 

On August 22, Shivakumar had appeared before the Karnataka Lokayukta police to cooperate with the probe in the illegal assets case. He accused the CBI and the Lokayukta police of harassing him by subjecting to long periods of questioning. 

On August 28, Shivakumar said that he would accept the court’s decision as that of God’s in connection with a disproportionate assets (DA) case against him. “I believe in the courts and I believe in God. I will accept the decision of the court as God’s decision,” he said. 

The state Congress chief made the remarks while replying to questions about the DA case during an inspection of the Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water project in Sakaleshpura. 

The Supreme Court on July 15 rejected a petition by the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister challenging the FIR lodged by the CBI against him, saying it cannot interfere with the High Court order. The High Court, in October 2023, rejected his plea and also directed the federal agency to complete the probe into the case and file the report within three months. 

The CBI filed the FIR against Shivakumar in September 2020, in which it alleged that he amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income between 2013 and 2018. He was a minister in the then-Congress government during that period.