Eight cases filed by the CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax Department and the Karnataka Lokayukatha, and one summon by ED -– these are the nine matters that Congress Chief Ministerial aspirant DK Shivakumar faces currently that could act as an impediment in his pitch for the Karnataka CM chair.
Interestingly, all these nine matters are presently pending a challenge before either the Supreme Court or the High Court with Shivakumar seeking the cases to be quashed. News18 has reported how former CM Siddaramaiah has cited the cases pending against Shivakumar to argue that he should not be made the CM, as the central investigative agencies could soon be at his door and the government would face jeopardy. But a closer look at the legal status of the cases show Shivakumar has been knocking at the court’s doors to get these cases quashed.
The earliest cases date back to 2012 in which the Karnataka Lokayukhta Police had booked Shivakumar for corruption in two cases. The BJP was in power in the state then. But three years later, the High Court quashed both these cases in 2015. The Lokayuktha challenged the decision in the Supreme Court in 2016 but the Special Leave Petition (SLP) was dismissed as withdrawn. In 2019, a plea was filed to restore that SLP – but no notice has been served to Shivakumar so far.
Setback for IT department
The Income Tax department filed four cases against Shivakumar in 2018 when the Congress and JD(S) were in power together. These cases were on the charges of willful attempt of evading income tax and destruction of evidence. In one of these cases, Shivakumar filed an appeal before the High court for discharge from the case but it was dismissed in 2019. In 2020, Shivakumar went to the Supreme Court and a notice has since been issued to the Income Tax department by the apex court.
In the three other IT cases, Shivakumar has had a big win as he was discharged before the framing of charges by a Special Court set up exclusively to deal with criminal cases related to MPs/MLAs in Karnataka. The IT Department filed an appeal in all three cases before the High Court which were also dismissed by the court in 2021.
Ultimately, the IT Department went to the Supreme Court in 2021 in appeals in all the three cases, which are pending for adjudication presently.
The Worry – ED and CBI
Shivakumar’s worry comes from the ED and the CBI. The ED booked him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2018 and the case has been pending before a Special Court in Delhi since 2022 but charges have not been framed yet. This case was borne out of the earlier IT case which continues against him. Shivakumar challenged the ED case through a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court which was dismissed by the court in 2019. Subsequently, Shivakumar challenged the case before the SC in 2019 and the same is pending adjudication. It was in this case that ED arrested Shivakumar in 2019 and he spent 50 days in jail.
In another PMLA matter, the ED issued a summon to Shivakumar to appear before the agency. Shivakumar has however challenged the summons by going to the Supreme Court in 2022, which is pending adjudication.
The CBI booked Shivakumar for corruption and disproportionate assets in a case in 2020 in which the framing of charges is still pending. The Karnataka government, then of the BJP, gave sanction to the CBI to prosecute Shivakumar in the case which the latter has challenged before the Karnataka High court and the matter is pending adjudication. Shivakumar has last year also filed a plea in the High Court to quash the said FIR of the CBI and the court has presently stayed the investigation and Shivakumar’s plea is pending adjudication.
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