DK Shivakumar abstains from responding to K'taka cabinet's move on CBI probe withdrawal

DK Shivakumar. Pic/PTI

Congress leader and Karnataka's deputy chief minister, D K Shivakumar, did not immediately address the recent Cabinet decision to revoke approval for a CBI investigation into disproportionate assets allegedly linked to him. Chief of the Karnataka Congress, Shivakumar, declined to comment directly on the state cabinet's position, citing media reports that emphasised the cabinet's position on the previous BJP government's approval of the CBI probe, stated agency reports.

"I saw in the paper (newspaper), I could not attend (the cabinet meeting) yesterday. Whoever has to speak on it will speak," Shivakumar told reporters in Bengaluru.

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According to the reports, Shivakumar stated that anyone who needed to make statements on the subject would make them, despite not attending the most recent Cabinet meeting led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. He said he was going to Telangana for an election campaign and that he would be willing to stay longer if the party asked him to.

Shivakumar's appeal against the previous government sanction allowing the CBI to prosecute him in the assets case has been rescheduled by the Karnataka High Court for November 29. In an attempt to overturn the stay imposed on Shivakumar's appeal, the CBI asked the High Court to expedite the hearing within two weeks, citing directives from the Supreme Court.

The case is the result of an ED investigation that was started in 2017 following searches at Shivakumar's property by the Income Tax Department. The state government granted the CBI's request for sanction on September 25, 2019, in response to the ED's investigation. After that, on October 3, 2020, the CBI filed a formal complaint (FIR) against Shivakumar, claiming that during his time as the Energy Minister in Siddaramaiah government, he accumulated disproportionate assets worth Rs 74.93 crore between April 2013 and April 2018.

Karnataka govt approves proposal to withdraw CBI probe against DK Shivakumar

The Karnataka government, according to media reports, approved a proposal to withdraw the CBI probe against the 'strongman' of Karnataka in an alleged disproportionate assets case. The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting held at Vidhanasoudha, the state legislative building of Karnataka on Thursday, which was presided over by CM Siddaramaiah.

After the meeting, Karnataka Law Minister HK Patil told the media that after careful consideration, they concluded that the previous BJP government had taken a wrong decision. Patil was quoted by ANI as saying, "The cabinet has come to a decision that the decision taken by the previous government was not in accordance with the law... We have known that the decision taken by the last government was not in accordance with the law."

With agency inputs