The Supreme Court on Monday declined to intervene in a Karnataka High Court’s interim stay of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar in a corruption case.
A Bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai said that the order under challenge was an interim one. The Bench requested the High Court to expeditiously hear and decide the case in its merits.
The High Court on February 10 stayed the CBI probe and the stay was extended in subsequent hearings.
In 2017, the Income Tax Department raided Mr. Shivakumar, on the basis of which, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started its probe against him. Following the ED investigation, the CBI later sought sanction from the State government to file an First Information Report against him.
The sanction came on September 25, 2019. On October 3, 2020, Mr. Shivakumar was booked by the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act for the alleged possession of disproportionate assets to the tune of ₹ 74.93 crore.
Mr. Shivakumar had approached the Karnataka High Court challenging the sanction and proceedings against him, alleging that the CBI was applying mental pressure on him ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections by repeatedly issuing notices to him, even though the case dated back to 2020.
