Cabinet stand on DKS case: ‘What’s your locus standi,’ HC asks Yatnal

BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal has filed a petition in the High Court of Karnataka challenging the state government’s order to withdraw the consent given to the CBI to investigate the disproportionate assets case against Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. 

Justice M Nagaprasanna posted the matter on December 15 while asking the petitioner to satisfy the court about the maintainability of the petition and his locus standi. 

During the hearing, the court observed that Yatnal was not an aggrieved party to be able to present the matter before a single bench. The judge also noted that the issue could be raised before a division bench through a PIL petition. Venkatesh P Dalawai, the counsel for the petitioner, told the court he would convince it about the maintainability of the petition. 

Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty informed the court that the CBI had set up the petitioner to file this petition.

P Prasanna Kumar, the special public prosecutor for the CBI, said there was no stay in so far as the FIR pursuant to the sanction and also said that the CBI is aware of the legal position, including the status of the FIR. 

Yatnal’s petition argued that the state cabinet’s decision to withdraw the consent granted to the CBI was against the public interest and tainted with malafides. It cited the Supreme Court judgement in Kazi Lhendup Dorji vs CBI, in which the top court stated that such withdrawal of consent would have no bearing on the proceedings already initiated. 

The BJP MLA’s petition further stated that the consent was given by the then B S Yediyurappa government on September 25, 2019, through an executive order and that the CBI had almost completed the investigation.

Exercising powers under Section 483 of the CrPC, the court should direct the investigating agency to submit the final report/charge sheet, the petition said. 

The CBI had registered the FIR against Shivakumar on October 3, 2020. The CBI case is that Shivakumar and his family members possess disproportionate assets of around Rs 74.8 crore. After the state government withdrew the consent on November 28, 2023, Shivakumar moved a memo seeking to withdraw the petition as well as the appeal challenging the consent granted to the CBI. A division bench had disposed of the petition and the appeal as withdrawn on November 29, 2023.