Supreme Court Refuses To Entertain CBI's Challenge To HC Stay Of Probe Against DK Shivakumar, Asks HC To Decide In 2 Weeks

The Supreme Court Friday (10th November) refused to entertain the plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging Karnataka High Court's decision to stay an investigation against Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in a disproportionate assets case. However, the Court requested the High Court to consider the application filed by the CBI for vacating the stay granted and the appeal pending before it as expeditiously as possible and preferably within two weeks.The order was passed by a bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma today. "The impugned order being interim in nature, we are not inclined to interfere with the same, more, particularly when the petitioner - CBI has already filed an application for vacation of the stay granted in the impugned order passed by the High Court, before the High Court. However, it is requested that the High Court may hear and dispose of the application filed by the CBI seeking vacation of stay and the appeal pending before it as expeditiously as possible and preferably within two weeks" the Apex Court said in its order. The special leave petition was filed by the CBI against a June 2023 order of the Karnataka High Court division bench temporarily staying the sanction granted by the state government to investigate the Congress leader’s role in a corruption case arising out of allegations regarding disproportionate assets.BackgroundThe interim stay order challenged in the Supreme Court arose in a Rs 74 crore disproportionate assets case against DK Shivakumar, in which the Central Bureau of Investigation had initiated an investigation in September 2019 after receiving sanction from the then BS Yediyurappa-led government. This was based on a 2017 Income Tax raid on Shivakumar’s offices and a subsequent probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). In October 2020, the Congress MLA was booked by the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act.Shivakumar moved the Karnataka High Court challenging the sanction and proceedings against him and the Court granted the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief temporary relief by staying the CBI probe on multiple occasions. These interim orders were challenged by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a separate special leave petition, but the Supreme Court in July refused to entertain the central agency’s plea arising out of ‘purely interlocutory’ orders.In April, Justice K Natarajan of the Karnataka High Court ultimately dismissed Shivakumar’s plea leading to the legislator filing an appeal before a division bench of the high court. A bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice MG S Kamal is currently hearing Shivakumar’s appeal. In June, the order of the single-judge bench was stayed by the division bench of the Karnataka High Court.Case DetailsCentral Bureau of Investigation v. DK Shivakumar | Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 9097 of 2023

Supreme Court Refuses To Entertain CBI's Challenge To HC Stay Of Probe Against DK Shivakumar, Asks HC To Decide In 2 Weeks

Sheryl Sebastian

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