Supreme Court seeks reply of DK Shivakumar in CBI plea to lift stay on corruption case probe

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to lift a stay on its probe against the Indian National Congress (INC) leader in a corruption case [Central Bureau of Investigation vs DK Shivakumar and ors]..A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi today refused to lift the stay order passed by the Karnataka High Court ex-parte, that is, without hearing the respondents which includes Shivakumar. .The bench was hearing a plea by the CBI against a Karnataka High Court order which had ordered an interim stay on the central agency's probe against Shivakumar in connection with a corruption case. The case concerns irregularities in mining and real estate activities.Earlier, in June as well, the top court had refused to lift the High Court's stay on the CBI probe. .Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appeared for the CBI before the Supreme Court today..On April 20, 2023, a plea was filed by Shivakumar to quash the State Home Department's order in the case, which was dismissed by Justice R Natarajan of the High Court. The Congress leader then moved a division bench of the High Court in appeal, which granted him interim relief by staying the CBI investigation until his challenge is decided by the Court.Meanwhile, Shivakumar was made the deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka after a new State government was formed by the Congress party, which was declared the winner of the State Assembly polls in May 2023.The High Court's June 2023 order of interim stay on the CBI probe against Shivakumar was then challenged before the Supreme Court by the central agency..The corruption case against Shivakumar was filed after a search was carried out by the Income Tax Department in 2017.During the search, which was conducted at various locations including Delhi, ₹8.59 crores was found. Out of that, ₹41 lakh rupees was found at a place belonging to Shivakumar. Subsequently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a case against Shivakumar under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Shivakumar was arrested in connection with the case on September 3, 2019.However, he was later released on bail following an order from the Delhi High Court, which was confirmed by the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, on September 9 that year, relying on the ED's letter, the then Bharatiya Janata Party-led State government allowed the CBI to conduct an investigation into the matter as well.