D.K. Shivakumar dropped from guest list over corruption cases

Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Bar Council has dropped the name of Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar from the list of chief guests in the revised invitation for the inaugural session of the two-day state-level Advocates’ Conference on Aug. 12 in Mysuru, after an objection was raised about him sharing the dais with judges when there are corruption and money laundering cases pending against him.

Shivakumar has 19 cases against him out of which the central investigative agencies- CBI, ED and Income Tax department – are probing him in a few cases.

Chief Minister Siddharamaiah will inaugurate the event at which Supreme Court Judge Justice A.S. Bopanna, Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale, Bar Council of India Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra and Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil will be the chief guests.

The decision to drop Shivakumar’s name was taken after BJP MLA and former Law Minister S. Suresh Kumar wrote to the Registrar of the Karnataka High Court raising objection over the Deputy Chief Minister sharing the dais with a Supreme Court Judge, Chief Justice and another judge of the Karnataka High Court for the Aug. 12 event, at a time when there are several cases pending before the Apex Court and the High Court against him.

“Is it proper for such people to share dais with the Supreme Court and High Court judges in that event,” the senior BJP leader sought to know. Shivakumar was arrested by the ED in a money laundering case in September 2019. He was released on bail after being put in prison for 50 days. The agency had also filed a charge sheet against him in a Delhi court in May last year.