Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
Credit: PTI Photo
The Karnataka State Bar Council has dropped the name of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar from the list of chief guests in the revised invitation for the inaugural session of the two-day state-level Advocates’ Conference on August 12 in Mysuru, after an objection was raised about him sharing the dais with judges when there are cases pending against him.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will inaugurate the event at which Supreme Court Judge Justice A S Bopanna, Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale, Bar Council of India Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra, and Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil will be the chief guests.
The decision to drop Shivakumar's name was taken after BJP MLA and former Law minister S Suresh Kumar wrote to the Registrar of the Karnataka High Court raising objection over the deputy chief minister sharing the dais with a Supreme Court Judge, Chief Justice and another judge of the Karnataka High Court for the August 12 event, at a time when there are several cases pending before the apex court and the high court against him.
“Is it proper for such people to share dais with the Supreme Court and High Court judges in that event,' the senior BJP leader sought to know.
Shivakumar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case in September 2019. He was released on bail after being put in prison for 50 days. The agency had also filed a charge sheet against him in a Delhi court in May last year.