The Supreme Court on Thursday again refused to staycriminal proceedings initiated by the income-tax authorities against Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D. K. Shivakumar.
In the last hearing on July 20, the court issued notice to the authorities but refused to stay.
On Thursday, a Bench of Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde declined to agree with the pleas made by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for Mr. Shivakumar, that irreparable harm would be caused if an interim stay is not granted.
The case against Mr. Shivakumar is based on an alleged recovery of undisclosed wealth in a search and seizure operation conducted on his premises in 2017.
In the last hearing, Mr. Rohatgi questioned the validity of the sanction (for prosecution) granted to prosecute his client. He argued that “no complaint [of undisclosed wealth] can be filed by the income-tax authorities on the basis of a raid in which time has not been given to file the returns for the year”.
In his appeal, Mr. Shivakumar has challenged a November 2019 Karnataka High Court order, which upheld a lower court’s decision to reject his plea to be discharged in the case.
