As DK Shivakumar gets set to become country’s ‘richest CM’, a look at his pending cases

Shivakumar’s political opponents, including JD(S) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy, have repeatedly questioned the sources of his wealth. Over the years, he has faced multiple allegations of misuse of office and accumulation of assets beyond known sources of income. While several cases against him have been closed or quashed, some continue to remain pending in courts.

Here are some cases that Shivakumar still faces.

2017 I-T case

One of the most significant cases pending against him is an Income Tax (IT) case linked to searches conducted in 2017, during which officials recovered Rs 8.59 crore from multiple locations. These searches coincided with Shivakumar hosting Congress legislators from Gujarat in order to “shield” them from “poaching” in the then crucial Rajya Sabha polls, prompting charges of political targeting.

In court filings, the IT department alleged that Shivakumar had established “an extensive network of persons and premises across Delhi and Bengaluru” to transport and utilise unaccounted for cash. Following a chargesheet filed by the department in a Bengaluru special court for economic offences, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a money-laundering case against him. Shivakumar was arrested by the ED in this case in 2019, following which he spent 50 days in the Tihar jail before being released on bail.

The same year, the then BJP government in Karnataka granted consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe allegations that Shivakumar possessed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income under the Prevention of Corruption Act. After the Congress returned to power in the state in 2023, the Siddaramaiah-led party government withdrew this consent and transferred the matter to the state Lokayukta.

The Karnataka High Court dismissed the CBI’s challenge to the withdrawal of the state government’s consent, directing the agency to approach the Supreme Court. The CBI moved the apex court in 2024. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court quashed the ED’s money laundering proceedings linked to the case.

Land denotification case

Another matter that may continue to shadow Shivakumar is the Benniganahalli denotification case. He is accused of purchasing 4.2 acres of notified land in violation of provisions of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act. BJP veteran and ex-CM B S Yediyurappa, who allegedly denotified the land, was also named in the case and faced a Lokayukta chargesheet.

The Karnataka High Court quashed the proceedings in this case in 2015. The complainants subsequently approached the Supreme Court but later withdrew their petitions. Anti-corruption activist S R Hiremath filed a Special Leave Petition in the apex court earlier this year seeking revival of the matter.

Other cases

Shivakumar has also faced other allegations in the past. In 2014, ahead of his induction into the then Siddaramaiah Cabinet, Hiremath’s organisation, Samaj Parivartana Samudaya, submitted a petition to the Governor and the Prime Minister’s Office highlighting several complaints against him.

Among them were allegations that Shivakumar had used his position to procure iron ore from the state-run Mysore Minerals Limited at concessional rates and sell it in the open market at higher prices. The alleged loss to the exchequer was estimated at around Rs 300 crore.

The Congress leader is called “Kanakapurada Bande (the rock of Kanakapura)” by his supporters to highlight his influence in his constituency in the Vokkaliga heartland. His critics have, however, used this term to allude to allegations of illegal quarrying in the Kanakapura and Sathnur regions.

In 2012, then Forest Minister C P Yogeshwar had announced a dedicated cell to investigate illegal mining in forest areas. Shivakumar and his brother have also faced allegations from his political opponents of intimidation and misuse of influence, charges they have consistently denied.