CBI moves Supreme Court against Karnataka’s withdrawal of sanction for graft probe against Deputy CM Shivakumar

In September, Yatnal filed a peculiar permission petition (criminal) successful the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into Shivakumar, who is besides the authorities Congress chief. The CBI submitted a plea successful the tribunal regarding the aforesaid substance connected October 18 and the lawsuit is pending registration. A proceeding for Yatnal’s petition is tentatively scheduled for November 4.

On August 29, the Karnataka High Court dismissed the pleas from Yatnal and the CBI against the Congress government’s determination to retreat consent for the probe arsenic “non-maintainable”.

The precocious tribunal bench, comprising Justices K Somashekhar and Umesh Adiga, dismissed the CBI’s situation to the Congress authorities determination to retreat consent to analyse alleged amerciable assets of Shivakumar, arsenic good arsenic a December 26, 2023 authorities bid to notation the substance to the Karnataka Lokayukta for investigation. Yatnal’s akin plea was besides dismissed.

The precocious tribunal stated successful a 67-page judgement connected August 29 that the matters raised successful the pleas indispensable beryllium addressed by the Supreme Court, which is already considering akin issues successful different petitions.

The CBI’s plea, on with Yatnal’s petition, was referred earlier this twelvemonth to the part seat by a azygous justice owed to the engagement of superior ineligible issues.

‘CBI can’t unrecorded without me’

“The CBI loves maine and they can’t unrecorded without me. The instrumentality of the onshore volition instrumentality its ain course. The precocious tribunal has already dismissed the petition filed by Yatnal, but helium is moving the Supreme Court now. This process volition spell connected for different 7-8 years,” Shivakumar said successful effect to the filing of the peculiar permission petition.

“It is evidently politically motivated. Mine is possibly the lone lawsuit successful the state wherever a disproportionate assets lawsuit is being investigated by the CBI. That shows the level of involvement they person successful me. I person religion successful the judicial strategy and I judge I volition get justice. The CBI is continuing to investigate, though the lawsuit has been handed to the Lokayukta,” helium added.

The filing of the peculiar permission petition by the CBI comes arsenic Shivakumar prepares to pb the Congress situation successful an Assembly bypoll successful the Channapatna portion of southbound Karnataka, which is considered a high-stakes electoral conflict for him amid a nonaccomplishment of governmental crushed successful the Vokkaliga heartland to Union curate H D Kumaraswamy of the NDA.

CBI lawsuit against Shivakumar

The CBI registered a disproportionate assets lawsuit against Shivakumar connected October 3, 2020, based connected consent fixed by the BJP authorities connected September 25, 2019, pursuing a notation by the Enforcement Directorate to analyse corruption charges that emerged from an income taxation investigation.

The Congress government, which replaced the BJP authorities successful May 2023, withdrew the consent aft a furniture determination connected November 23, 2023. The Congress has stated that the lawsuit was referred to the CBI successful 2019 adjacent earlier an FIR was registered successful 2020.

The CBI has alleged that Shivakumar amassed Rs 74.93 crore of wealthiness disproportionate to his known sources of income from April 2013 to April 2018, erstwhile helium was the vigor curate successful a erstwhile Congress authorities successful the state.

Shivakumar was arrested by the ED successful September 2019 connected the ground of money-laundering charges that emerged from an Income Tax Department probe against him betwixt 2017 and 2019. He was released connected bail successful the ED lawsuit successful October 2019.

The ED wrote to the state’s BJP authorities successful 2019 to research the anticipation of corruption successful the money-laundering lawsuit against Shivakumar by ordering a CBI inquiry. The BJP authorities nether B S Yediyurappa granted consent to the CBI to analyse the corruption charges.

On March 5 this year, the Supreme Court quashed the ED proceedings against Shivakumar, citing its ain judgement from November 29, 2023, successful the Pavana Dibbur case. The tribunal ruled that money-laundering proceedings tin beryllium initiated by the ED lone if the laundered funds are linked to a large oregon scheduled crime.

In the November 2023 ruling successful the Pavana Dibbur lawsuit from Karnataka, the Supreme Court stated that Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) charges necessitate the engagement of a superior predicate offence and cannot beryllium brought without a superior transgression linked to the funds alleged to beryllium laundered.

The PMLA complaint against Shivakumar, for which helium spent a period successful Tihar Jail successful 2019, was based connected allegations that the Congress person and his associates were portion of a transgression conspiracy to evade income taxation connected their earnings, which is not a scheduled offence for triggering PMLA proceedings.

The Supreme Court ruled successful the Pavana Dibbur lawsuit that “the offence punishable nether Section 120 B of the IPC (criminal conspiracy) volition go a scheduled offence lone if the conspiracy alleged is of committing an offence which is specifically included successful the Schedule”.

The ED initiated proceedings successful a money-laundering lawsuit against Shivakumar successful 2018 pursuing income taxation searches conducted betwixt August 2 and August 5, 2017, astatine astir 70 premises linked to him. At the time, Shivakumar was the authorities vigor curate and was sheltering 42 Gujarat Congress MLAs up of a Rajya Sabha canvass to forestall poaching by the BJP.

The cancellation of aggregate cases filed against Shivakumar, peculiarly for corruption and wealth laundering, is seen arsenic a cardinal measurement that could facilitate his aspirations of becoming the Karnataka main curate during the existent Congress tenure.