The Siddaramaiah Cabinet gave its consent to hand over the case to the Karnataka Lokayukta after revoking an order passed by the Yediyurappa government.
Published Jan 02, 2024 | 10:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 02, 2024 | 10:00 AM
Karnataka DyCM DK Shivakumar claimed his disproportionate asset case has been transferred to Lokayukta from CBI on Monday. (Supplied)
The Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government’s decision to transfer a disproportionate assets (DA) case against Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to the Karnataka Lokayukta has raised legal concerns over the validity of the move.
Shivakumar confirmed to reporters in Bengaluru on Monday, 1 January, that the case had been transferred to Lokayukta from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) also confirmed to South First that the case has been transferred to Lokayukta after the Karnataka Cabinet revoked the BS Yediyurappa government’s order.
Legal experts claimed that the government’s decision to transfer the case to Lokayukta is likely to attract legal hurdles as it cannot be done.
Earlier in the day, Shivakumar blamed the BJP for the CBI sending notices to his family members and business partners and termed it a political conspiracy to “fix him”.
On Sunday, the CBI issued notice to the Kerala-based Jaihind television channel and summoned its managing director to Bengaluru on 11 January in the disproportionate assets case. Shivakumar is one of the investors in the channel.
The case gained political significance after the Siddaramaiah Cabinet gave consent to revoke the BS Yediyurappa government’s order for a CBI probe, issued on 25 September 2019. The Cabinet deemed the earlier not by the law as the then-government had not sought permission from the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
Following the Cabinet decision, the Karnataka High Court permitted Shivakumar to withdraw his appeal challenging a previous single-judge Bench’s 29 November order.
“The government has handed over the DA case to the Karnataka Lokayukta. The state Cabinet had withdrawn the previous BJP government’s sanction for a CBI probe against Shivakumar,” Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs HK Patil told South First.
“The official order will be made available in the public domain at the earliest. The Home Department will look after the investigation and case transfers. I would not like to comment anything more,” Patil added.
“The government has already handed over the case to Lokayukta. I have no role in this decision and I have not even insisted the government to do so. The government has withdrawn the sanctions given to the CBI to investigate this case,” Shivakumar said.
He expressed surprise over the grounds on which the CBI had served the notice and added that he will cooperate with the Lokayukta probe. The investigation has not been finished. The CBI has not even completed 10 percent of the investigation. I don’t know on what basis they told the court that they had completed 90 percent of the probe,” he added.
The Siddaramaiah government’s decision to transfer the case to Lokayukta is likely to face legal consequences, legal experts opined.
“The government cannot transfer the case to Lokayukta while the CBI is probing it, If anyone files a PIL then this decision is likely to face legal consequences in the future,” an expert, who preferred to remain anonymous, told South First.
“Once the case is handed over to the CBI — a central investigative agency — and around 90 percent of the probe has been completed, then the government cannot transfer the case. In this case, there is also a high court judgment against the accused,” he said.
“The high court order is superior to the state government order. The state cannot override the court. If the case is transferred to Lokayukta then the state agency has to investigate this case from scratch. Because they cannot bank on the CBI’s findings,” he added.
Meanwhile, Minister Patil said the government had taken legal opinion before transferring the case to Lokayukta. “We have taken the decision based on the opinions of the former advocate general and current advocate general and also that of legal experts. I believe there won’t be any legal hurdles.”
