In a temporary relief to Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, a Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka on Monday stayed till July 17 the single judge’s order of upholding consent given by the State government to the CBI to probe the corruption case against him for allegedly possessing ₹74.93 crore worth of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice M.G.S. Kamal passed the ad-interim order on an appeal filed by Mr. Shivakumar challenging the judge’s April 20 judgment.
The ad-interim stay was granted only till the next date of hearing for the reason that the judge had granted interim protection in the nature of ‘not to take coercive step’ against him since September 2020 and till his petition was rejected on April 20, 2023.
Senior Advocate Udaya Holla, appearing for Mr. Shivakumar, contended that the benefit of interim protection that existed till the dismissal of the petition would be lost if the judge’s order is not stayed during the pendency of the appeal.
The judge had refused to interim with the sanction granted by the State government on September 25, 2019, based on the details of his assets, related to the check period of 2013-2018 when he was serving as Minister, submitted by the Enforcement Directorate.
The judge, in Mr. Shivakumar’s petition, had said that the legality of consent was upheld by the court in July 2020 in a petition filed by one Shashi Kumar Shivanna, co-accused and relative of Mr. Shivakumar.
The judgment of July 2020 in Shivanna’s case, upholding the consent given to CBI, was also upheld by a Division Bench, the judge had noted while dismissing Mr. Shivakumar’s petition.
