The Karnataka High Court stayed the proceedings of the CBI in a corruption case. (Representative)
Bengaluru:
The Karnataka High Court on Friday stayed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) proceedings in a corruption case against Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar till February 24.
The High Court has also directed the lead agency to submit an action taken report before February 22 in the case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Enforcement Directorate had issued summons to Shivakumar while his daughter was issued a notice by the CBI, the Congress leader revealed on February 8. He was asked to appear before the ED on February 22 in what he termed political vendetta.
Appearing for the Congress state president before Justice K Natarajan on Friday, senior advocate CH Jadhav argued that it was an attempt by the CBI and the ED to put mental pressure on his lawyer ahead of the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections.
The court was told that agencies were repeatedly issuing notices to Shivakumar and his family.
The HC pointed out that the cases were from 2020. The court also questioned the CBI on the progress of the probe in the last two years. The court asked the agency when it would file the final report. It stayed the proceedings till the next date of hearing and adjourned the matter.
The issue started with the Income Tax raid on Shivakumar in 2017. Based on information provided by the Income Tax Department, the ED had also started an investigation against him.
Based on the ED’s investigation, the CBI had sought approval from the state government to register an FIR against the Congress state president. The approval came on September 25, 2019 and the FIR was registered on October 3, 2020.
Shivakumar has also challenged the FIR in the HC.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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