'Vindictive': DKShi hits out at BJP govt for giving sanction to CBI to prosecute him in DA case
Bengaluru, Apr 21: Congress state president D K Shivakumar on Friday hit out at the BJP government in Karnataka for giving sanction to the CBI to prosecute him in a disproportionate assets case, calling it "vindictive".
The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday dismissed the petition by Shivakumar challenging the sanction.
Shivakumar claimed that the government did not take the Speaker's consent before giving the sanction nor did it take note of the Advocate General's purported remark that his was not a fit case for a CBI probe.
"The vindictive BJP government has given permission for a CBI inquiry," Shivakumar told reporters here. "The speaker's consent should have been there, which they have not done. Even the advocate general has said that this is not a fit case for the CBI," the former minister added.
Quoting the Advocate General, he said the Lokayukta or the Anti-Corruption Bureau could have investigated the matter. "But in order to torture me, the government has recommended it to the CBI. So I have appealed to the court," he said.
After the HC rejected his plea, Shivakumar said he would approach the higher court.
On whether this was a "pressure tactic", Shivakumar, who is seeking re-election from Kanakapura constituency in the May 10 Assembly elections, said that was "obvious".
"The BJP is harassing the opposition government be it West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, or Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi," he alleged.
Following a request by the CBI, the State government had given sanction to prosecute Shivakumar on September 25, 2019, based on which it had filed an FIR against him on October 3, 2020.
The state Congress chief had challenged both the sanction and the FIR in two separate petitions before the high court. Earlier this week, the HC reserved its judgment on the petition challenging the sanction. On Wednesday, it adjourned the hearing of the other petition challenging the FIR to May 30. On Thursday evening, the single-judge bench of Justice K Natarajan dismissed the petition challenging the sanction.
The Income Tax Department had conducted a search and seizure operation in the offices and residence of Shivakumar in 2017. Based on the operation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started its own probe against him. Based on the ED investigation, the CBI sought sanction from the State government to file an FIR against him.
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Shivakumar had challenged the sanction on the grounds that it was a politically motivated FIR, and three earlier FIRs had already been filed against him in relation to disproportionate income.
Since he was an MLA, the permission of the Speaker of the Assembly had to be obtained which was not done in this case. Also, the government did not mention the reasons for granting the sanction to prosecute, Shivakumar said.
The CBI had objected to Shivakumar's petition in court, stating that the accused could not demand which agency should conduct the investigation against him. It argued that since the CBI was enacted under a special act, there was no need to mention the reasons to grant sanction for prosecution.
The CBI claimed that 90 per cent of the investigation was complete, and also submitted a status report to the court. Since it is a special case related to disproportionate income, the petition was sought to be dismissed.
Shivakumar has been charged under Section 13(2), Section 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
