NEW DELHI: In a surprise move, Karnataka government on Wednesday took back its affidavit vehemently defending its Nov 2023 decision to withdraw consent the previous BJP govt in the state had given in Sept 2019 for a CBI probe into the alleged disproportionate assets of deputy CM D K Shivakumar.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for state, requested a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N K Singh for nod to withdraw the affidavit on the ground that state wanted to file a better affidavit. Sibal brushed aside solicitor general Tushar Mehta’s repeated queries about the reason for the affidavit being pulled back.
The bench permitted withdrawal of the affidavit, which was filed exactly six months after the SC had entertained the petition filed by BJP MLA Basanagouda R Patil Yatnal. The state had taken repeated adjournments before filing the affidavit and the SC on Wednesday granted two more weeks for filing of a fresh affidavit.
The SC had issued notices to Karnataka government, CBI, Shivakumar and state police on Yatnal’s petition on Sept 17 last year. In its March 17 affidavit, which now stands withdrawn, Siddaramaiah govt had told SC that previous BJP govt’s decision to grant consent for CBI investigation was illegal as it was taken without considering the absence of material relating to disproportionate assets.
The state government also said bringing in the CBI amounted to admitting that the state police were not competent to investigate the corruption case, and asserted that the police could handle such cases. The 2019 decision to allow CBI probe “would violate the state’s autonomy in investigations and undermine its responsibility in ensuring fair trial and threaten the federal ethos of the Constitution”, it said.