"Victory of people, govt": Karnataka Dy CM Shivakumar on HC verdict on DA case

"I had great faith in the judiciary and I feel vindicated today. It is more a victory for the people and the government than a personal one. I would like to thank the government and my legal counsels for all the support," he said, speaking to reporters after the Karnataka High Court quashed the application of CBI and BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal in the disproportionate assets case.

"The High Court has upheld the decision of the government. This means that the CBI has to either drop the case or appeal to the Supreme Court. I have faith in the courts of the country and the judiciary has given me protection," he further added.

The Karnataka High Court dismissed a CBI petition challenging the Congress government's withdrawal of consent for investigating a disproportionate assets case against Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. The court ruled that issues raised should be addressed by the Supreme Court. The case has been referred to the Lokayukta for further investigation.

Shivakumar accused the BJP of attempting to tarnish his reputation and stated that his government prioritizes transparency in governance and politics and pointed out that the previous BJP government could have investigated the case through Lokayukta but instead referred it to the CBI.

"We take great care in the way we do our governance and politics. But the BJP has been slinging mud at us. There are thousands of cases in the country and the governments are free to investigate any of them. The previous BJP government could have investigated the case against me through Lokayukta but it chose to refer it to the CBI. No case of disproportionate assets has been referred to the CBI in history," he explained.

Shivakumar highlighted that the ED's case against him, related to the same matter, had been dismissed and that he had submitted all necessary documents to the Lokayukta, which is currently investigating the case.

"The BJP even filed a PMLA case against me and sent me to jail. But I continue to repose my faith in the judiciary. The case registered by the ED regarding the same case has also been dismissed. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took a decision to transfer the case to the Lokayukta. The Lokayukta is investigating the case and I have submitted all the documents regarding the case," he added.

"In the meantime, the CBI had argued that it would like to investigate the case. The CBI had even said that it had completed 90 per cent of the case. How can they complete the investigation without even interrogating me? I have submitted all the documents and those documents can't be changed. A BJP leader had submitted an application in this case and I have filed a defamation case against him for making false claims," he said.

When asked about Yatnal's statement that he would appeal to the Supreme Court, he said, "I won't say no to it if he chooses to do so. But the main question is, What is Yatnal's interest in my case? Even the CBI has nothing to do with the case. This concerns the governments."

When asked if he would treat this as a relief or start another fight, he said, "There will be a conspiracy against me until I die. We have to fight it out."

Speaking of the opposition taking this route as it was not able to fight politically, he said, "Absolutely. There is no wrongdoing in the CM's case. There is no signature to indict him. They are doing this to weaken him mentally. These things don't bother me much these days. I remained confident even when I was in Tihar jail and I will remain so in the future too. I was calm even though I knew that the verdict was today. The government has only transferred the case to Lokayukta and it has not withdrawn it. The government would have taken into account all legal aspects before taking a decision." (ANI)