K’taka Dy CM Shivakumar gets Lokayukta notice in disproportionate assets case

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress President, D.K. Shivakumar, has been served a notice by the State Lokayukta on Wednesday in connection with the disproportionate assets (DA) case, sources confirmed.

Shivakumar has been asked to provide all documents in his defence regarding the case.

The development is seen as a setback for Shivakumar, who is busy with strategising and executing election campaigns for the Congress.

Shivakumar is also at the forefront of election campaigns with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

In a controversial move, the Congress government had withdrawn the permission given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the matter.

The case was handed over to the CBI by the then BJP government headed by former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.

The case was then handed over to the Lokayukta by the Congress government on November 23, 2023.

The CBI had questioned the Karnataka government’s decision in the court, claiming that it is in the last phase of filing the charge sheet against Shivakumar.

The Supreme Court had recently quashed the case probed by the Enforcement Directorate against Shivakumar.

Shivakumar had recently claimed that even after the DA case was quashed and permission withdrawn for the CBI probe, the central probe agencies still served notices to him, his family and business partners and accused that they were harassed.

The CBI had alleged that the assets of Shivakumar’s family, which was amounting to Rs 33 crore in 2013 had increased to Rs 166.79 crore by 2018.

The preliminary probe proved the increase of 44.93 per cent additional property disproportionate to the sources of income, sources said.