Hearing adjourned on petition against withdrawal of approval to prosecute Shivkumar

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday adjourned till January 5 the hearing on a petition challenging the withdrawal of sanction to prosecute Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in the disproportionate assets case.

The Advocate General submitted that the petition has cited several other judgments which need to be studied for an appropriate response and hence more time has been sought.

A bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna accepted the request and adjourned the hearing. The petition was filed by BJP leader and MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal.

During the hearing, the court questioned how the petitioner has been affected by the government action and why a PIL was not filed instead of the petition.

Yatnal’s lawyer Venkatesh Dalwai argued that even though there was no personal injury, any person could still initiate criminal proceedings. HC accepted this argument.

Based on the Income Tax Department raids and the Enforcement Directorate’s investigation, the CBI sought approval from the state government to register an FIR against DK Shivakumar, which was granted on September 25, 2019.

Following the change of government, the approval was withdrawn on November 28, 2023. Challenging the government’s November 28 order withdrawing the consent, Yatnal approached the High Court alleging that it was ‘illegal’.