On Thursday, the Karnataka Cabinet made the decision to revoke the consent granted by the previous BJP government under CM BS Yediyurappa to the CBI for probing a case related to disproportionate assets (DA) involving Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
The previous sanction was granted in September 2019 by the BJP government, which was withdrawn perusing the fact that the Speaker’s clearance was not obtained as required.
“The cabinet held that keeping in view the opinions of the old Advocate General and new Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty, bypassing and overlooking the speaker, the decision that was taken was not in accordance with the law,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
“A unilateral decision was taken by the former CM to accord the sanction. There was a requirement to obtain the permission of the Speaker of the legislature but this was not done and the CBI had been accorded sanction for investigation,” said H K Patil.
The Karnataka govt on Thursday approved the proposal by the State Home Department to withdraw the CBI investigation in the disproportionate assets case against DK Shivakumar.https://t.co/hcazlutrKy
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 24, 2023
Without sharing additional details, he said, “Orders will be issued in a couple of days.” According to official sources, Shivakumar was not part of the cabinet meeting. Shivakumar is facing a corruption case filed against him in 2020 by the CBI, in which he is accused of accumulating illicit wealth amounting to Rs. 74 crore during his tenure as a minister in the Congress government in Karnataka from 2013 to 2018.
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It is important to note that, the Karnataka Cabinet’s resolution comes slightly more than a month after the Karnataka High Court’s decision on October 19 to reject the plea to dismiss the investigations against Shivakumar. The court directed the CBI to conclude the inquiry initiated in 2020 within three months.
Earlier also on April 20, Karnataka High Court, rejected a specific plea by Shivakumar to quash the 2019 sanction for the CBI investigation against him. The Karnataka High Court is scheduled to hear on November 29 on the appeal filed by Shivakumar against the April 20 decision of a single-judge bench to reject his plea. Leader of Opposition (BJP) in Karnataka R Ashok termed the Cabinet decision a “contempt of court”.
