Lokayukta police books Shivakumar amid Karnataka HC hearing

The Lokayukta police registered an FIR against deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar even as the high court hearing in the case is underway

Bengaluru:

DK Shivakumar (PTI)

The Lokayukta police on Tuesday registered an FIR against deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar even as the high court hearing in the case is underway.

The development comes after Congress-led Karnataka government’s withdrawal of consent for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the matter. The decision to revoke the consent, which was granted during the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) tenure, has been challenged by the CBI and BJP lawmaker Basanagouda Patil Yatnal in the Karnataka high court.

In the FIR, Lokayukta police did not mention any details about the preliminary investigation. “Lokayukta police registered the FIR after Karnataka Government’s order dated 22-12-2023 to take over the further investigation into CBI FIR No CBI/ACB/BLR2020 RC 10 (A)/2020,” the FIR said.

Reacting to the FIR against him, Shivakumar said, he will continue to fight the battle in the court. “Our government has withdrawn the consent given to CBI and the case has been transferred to Lokayukta. The then advocate general said, it was not a fit case and I have got a copy of it through RTI. I don’t know why Lokayukta has registered the FIR. It was wrong to give consent to CBI by BS Yediyurappa’s government and now FIR is registered in Lokayukta,” he added.

After a lapse of over a month, the Lokayukta police registered an FIR against deputy CM Shivakumar in the disproportionate asset case amounting to ₹74.93 crore.

Shivakumar’s legal representatives raised objections in the high court, seeking to maintain the status quo until the matter is settled. However, despite these objections, the Karnataka Lokayukta proceeded to register an FIR against him in the alleged disproportionate asset case amounting to ₹74.93 crore.

The decision of the Karnataka government to retract the previously granted consent for the investigation by CBI has sparked controversy.

The Siddaramaiah government opposed the move, citing violations in granting consent to the CBI.

In response to these developments, the CBI and BJP MLA Yatnal approached the Karnataka High Court, contesting the government’s decision to withdraw consent for the probe.

Senior Counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is representing Shivakumar in the high court, argued that objections had been lodged against Yatnal’s petition.

However, Yatnal’s counsel, Dalavayi Venkatesh, claimed they had not received any information regarding the objections and requested one week to respond. The two-member bench, comprising justices K Somashekhar and Umesh M Adiga, agreed to the request and instructed the advocate general to file objections from the government at the next hearing.

On November 23, the Karnataka cabinet declared that the previous BJP government’s grant of consent to the CBI to investigate Shivakumar was in violation of the law.

The government asserted that the BJP government did not adhere to proper procedures and hastily transferred the case to the CBI.

Subsequently, Yatnal filed an interim petition before the Karnataka high court.

The plea contends that revoking the consent granted to the CBI on September 25, 2019, was an attempt to disrupt ongoing judicial proceedings.