NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider immediately a plea by the CBI to lift stay on its investigation into a case related to alleged possession of disproportionate assets by Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
The court said it can't consider the plea ex parte as the "man is not running away anywhere".
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi issued notice to Karnataka Congress chief Shivakumar.
The court scheduled the matter for consideration on November 7, 2023.
On behalf of the CBI, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju submitted that the 90% investigation has been completed in the matter. He claimed the stay was granted on a "false" statement made in an affidavit.
He sought a direction to lift the stay.
"We will examine the matter and issue notice," the bench said.
In February this year, Justice K Natarajan of the Karnataka HC granted Shivakumar temporary relief in connection with a Rs 74 crore disproportionate assets case of 2020, being investigated by the CBI.
In April, the single judge dismissed his plea. In June, this year, a division bench led by Chief Justice Prasanna B Varle had stayed the single judge bench order.
The central agency claimed has Shivakumar amassed Rs 74.93 crore of wealth, disproportionate to known sources of income, from April 2013 to April 2018, when he was the energy minister in the Congress-led Karnataka government.
The CBI filed the FIR against him in October 2020 on charges of corruption, based on the findings of the income-tax departments searches carried out in August 2017 at around 70 premises linked to him.
Subsequently a probe was initiated by the Enforcement Directorate. In October 2020, the leader was booked by the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
