Bengaluru: On Friday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah declared that the Assembly Speaker had not given his consent for the CBI investigation that had been ordered by the previous BJP-led state government against his deputy, D.K. Shivakumar, over allegations of corruption. He further stated that the Advocate General’s opinion had not been taken into consideration.
Following the official opening of the Bangalore City Safe City Command Center, he made these remarks to the media.
In response to inquiries concerning the Cabinet’s decision to revoke the approval granted to the CBI for the investigation of Shivakumar’s claims, the Chief Minister stated: “In 2019, D.K. Shivakumar was an MLA at the time the investigation against him was approved. The Chief Minister ought to have ordered the probe when the Assembly Speaker gave the investigation against him legal approval. However, the then-Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa did not take the Advocate General’s advice into consideration and did not receive any approval from the Assembly Speaker. He had given the Chief Secretary verbal instructions. It was illegal for the Chief Secretary to have handed the case to the CBI for investigation based on his verbal directive.
“It is not right on the part of the government to sanction it illegally. Hence, the decision was taken to withdraw the sanction for investigation,” the CM said.
Responding to a question if the government had taken this decision after having apprehensions about the court’s decision to uphold the order recently, the CM said: “We will not interfere in the verdicts of the court. Let the court decide.”
