BENGALURU:
The Karnataka High Court on Thursday morning gave the go-ahead to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to continue its investigation against Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in the Disproportionate Assets Case.
The judge, Justice K Natarajan, made a decision to lift the temporary stay on the CBI investigation. He told the agency to finish their investigation and submit the final report in three months.
Earlier, Shivakumar obtained a stay order on investigation during the Karnataka Assembly Elections. But now, the High Court said ‘no way’ and told the CBI to go ahead with the investigation. It’s a major shock for DK Shivakumar as he is an aspirant to take over as Karnataka’s Chief Minister after 30 months (the talks between Siddaramaiah and him of sharing CM’s chair for 30 months each).
The court also said that Shivakumar can’t get rid of the CBI’s case against him in the Disproportionate Assets Case. The court didn’t agree with DK’s request to cancel the investigation.
The High Court also said that the CBI needs to finish the investigation in the next 3 months. So, DK can’t relax just yet. The CBI has to keep working on his case of having too much money.
He can approach the Supreme Court
The option before Shivakumar is to approach the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court’s order which has allowed CBI to continue its investigation against him.
Sources said that Shivakumar and his lawyers are waiting to get the Karnataka High Court’s order to take further steps.
Supreme Court Hearing on November 7
Earlier on October 16, two Supreme Court Justices —Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi sent a notice to Shivakumar — the hearing is now scheduled for November 7.
Read Here: Supreme Court issues notice to DK Shivakumar on CBI’s plea in disproportionate assets case
In 2017, the Income Tax department searched Shivakumar’s place. The Enforcement Directorate started looking into him too. And then, the CBI got involved and asked the government for permission to take legal action against Shivakumar. Finally, on September 25, 2019, the government allowed an investigation against Shivakumar, and on October 3, 2020, they officially charged him with a crime called “Prevention of Corruption Act.”
