DK Shivakumar moves HC against CBI; notice issued to central agency

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar has approached the high court seeking quashing of an FIR filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the Prevention of Corruption Act

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar has approached the high court seeking quashing of an FIR filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D K Shivakumar (PTI)

Justice Siddappa Sunil Dutt Yadav who heard the petition on Monday ordered notice to the CBI. Senior counsels B V Acharya and C H Jadhav who argued on behalf of Shivakumar submitted that the FIR filed on October 3, 2020 against him was illegal. The petition says though Shivakumar is the sole accused in the case, all his family members’ properties are shown as his.

“The expression ‘family members’ is a vague term. In the present case, neither there is number of family members mentioned nor their identity disclosed,” the petition says. “The entire FIR does not refer to the properties in the possession of the sole accused. On the other hand, the possession referred to as every stage is to the property of DK Shivakumar and his family members together,” the petition says. The argument, on his behalf, also posted out that sanction from the competent authority has not been obtained.

“The CBI has failed to follow the procedure mentioned in the CBI Manual for investigating into disproportionate assets cases. There is no A-B-C-D statement mentioned in the FIR to determine the income, assets and expenditure of the petitioner for the said check period,” the petition says. The Income Tax Department had conducted a search of Shivakumar’s properties in Karnataka and Delhi on August 2, 2017. This case is pending before a Special Court in Bengaluru. In August 2018, the Enforcement Directorate filed a case based on the IT Department’s search. A charge sheet was filed in this case. In September 2019, the ED wrote to the State government to take action against Shivakumar for money-laundering. On September 25, 2019 the State government gave sanction to the CBI to proceed against Shivakumar. After a preliminary enquiry, the CBI filed the FIR on October 3, 2020.

This is now challenged before the high court by Shivakumar.