Karnataka High Court refuses to quash FIR by CBI against Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar

The case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered by the CBI following the findings of separate investigations conducted by the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate.

In a setback to Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, the High Court of Karnataka refused to quash a corruption case registered against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly possessing assets worth ₹74.93 crore disproportionate to his known sources of income.

On October 19, Justice K. Natarajan passed the order while dismissing the petition filed by Mr. Shivakumar, who had questioned the legality of registration of the First Information Report (FIR) by the CBI.  The court said that it cannot interfere at this stage.

The case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered by the CBI following the findings of separate investigations conducted by the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate.

In 2017, the Income Tax Department conducted a raid on a premises belonging to Mr. Shivakumar, based on which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started its probe. Following the ED investigation, the CBI had sought sanction from the State Government to register an FIR against him. Sanction for investigation was granted on September 25, 2019. Mr. Shivakumar was booked by the CBI on October 3, 2020.

Mr. Shivakumar, in a separate petition, had challenged the legality of the sanction granted by the State Government to the CBI to investigate the allegations against him. A single-judge bench had initially stayed the sanction, but later upheld the validity of sanction. 

Mr. Shivakumar filed an appeal before a division bench, which, in June 2023, had stayed the sanction. However, the CBI had recently moved the Supreme Court challenging the stay order, and the apex court had issued notice to Mr. Shivakumar.

Though the court dismissed Mr. Shivakumar’s petition on October 19, the CBI cannot continue the probe in view of the stay granted by the division bench against the sanction given by the State Government to the CBI to conduct the probe against him.