SC dismisses CBI's plea against stay on probe against Dy CM D K Shivakumar in graft case
New Delhi, Ju (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with the Karnataka High Court's order granting an interim stay on a CBI probe against the state's Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar in a corruption case.
A bench of Justice B R Gavai, Justice C T Ravikumar and Justice Sanjay Kumar dismissed the appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation against the February 10 order of the high court in the case.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju said that the division bench of the high court granted an interim stay on the proceedings despite there being an order in favour of the agency.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Shivakumar, said the CBI has filed an appeal against an interim order of the high court but refused to challenge subsequent interim orders passed by the division bench of the high court.
The Supreme Court bench then said it is not going to interfere and granted the CBI liberty to request the high court for speedy disposal of the case before it.
On February 10, the Karnataka High Court stayed CBI proceedings in a corruption case against Shivakumar. The HC has also directed the probe agency to submit an action-taken report in the case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The high court pointed out that the cases registered against Shivakumar were of 2020 and also questioned the CBI on the progress of the investigation over the last two years. The high court had asked the agency when would it file the final report as it stayed the proceedings till the next date of hearing and adjourned the case.
The Income Tax Department raided Shivakumar in 2017. Based on the information provided by the I-T department, the Enforcement Directorate too started its probe against him.
Based on the ED investigation, the CBI sought sanction from the state government to file an FIR against the Congress' Karnataka unit president. The sanction came on September 25, 2019, and the FIR was filed on October 3, 2020. Shivakumar has challenged the FIR in the High Court.
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Voting begins for Assam's 126 assembly seats
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Guwahati (PTI): Polling for all 126 Assam assembly constituencies began on Thursday to decide the electoral fate of 722 candidates, officials said.
In the high-stakes election, the ruling BJP is aiming for a third consecutive term in office, while the Congress seeks to wrest power after being ousted in 2016.
Polling, being held in a single phase, began at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm. Long queues of voters were seen outside polling stations from early morning.
An electorate of 2.50 crore, including 1.25 crore women and 318 from the third gender, can exercise their franchise in 31,490 polling stations across the state.
Prominent candidates include Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Congress state president Gaurav Gogoi, assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary, Leader of the opposition Debabrata Saikia, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi.
Several cabinet ministers, including the AGP’s Atul Bora and Keshav Mahanta, and the BPF’s Charan Boro are also in the fray.
The Congress has the highest of 99 contestants, followed by the BJP (90), AIUDF (30), NDA allies AGP (26) and BPF (11).
Opposition alliance’s Raijor Dal is contesting in 13, AJP in 10, CPI(M) in 3 and APHLC in 2. Outside the two coalitions, the AAP is contesting in 18 seats, UPPL in 18, TMC 22, JMM 16 and there are 258 independents.
The ruling NDA’s main constituents are the BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodo Peoples’ Front (BPF) while the opposition alliance comprises the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), CPI(M), All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) and CPI(ML).
The counting of votes is scheduled on May 4.
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