Supreme Court refuses to quash DA case against Karnataka Deputy CM Shivakumar

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea filed by Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, DK Shivakumar, seeking quashing of CBI proceedings against him in the alleged Disproportionate Assets (DA) case.

A Bench presided over by Justice Bela M Trivedi declined to interfere with the October 2023 decision of the Karnataka High Court which had denied quashing the case registered against Shivakumar under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In its impugned order, a Bench of Justice K Natarajan of the Karnataka HC lifted the stay order issued on the CBI probe and directed the agency to file its report within three months.

In October 2020, the CBI had filed a criminal case under Sections 13 (2) and 13 (1) (e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act alleging that Shivakumar had amassed assets disproportionate to his income during his tenure as the energy minister in the previous Congress-led Karnataka government.

It was alleged that Shivakumar amassed properties worth Rs 74 crore between 2013 and 2018, which were deemed disproportionate against his known sources of income.

The then BJP-led Karnataka government headed by Yediyurappa had handed over the case to the CBI.

The incumbent CM Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had withdrawn the consent to the CBI for a probe into the DA matter on November 28, 2023.

The case was handed over to the Lokayukta for investigation following the withdrawal of the consent to the CBI.

Earlier, in March this year, the Supreme Court had quashed a money laundering probe initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Shivakumar.

The ED initiated a probe against Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah, an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and others under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on the charge sheet filed by the I-T (Income Tax) Department.