Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has labelled as “unfair” the Supreme Court‘s dismissal of a petition challenging the CBI’s FIR against him in a disproportionate assets case.

“This is a setback. What to do? This is unfair,” the senior Congress leader told NDTV.

“I will look at all the legal aspects and see how I can file an appeal. Everyone knows how political and vindictive… my issues have been going on. When the BJP government was there they gave (the CBI) permission to register a FIR. I asked for it to be squashed but they said they cannot…”

“At the same time the Karnataka government (after the Congress came to power) withdrew permission given to CBI and handed over case to the Lokayukta… so now CBI is continuing to investigate. All this despite the government withdrawing consent,” Mr Shivakumar said.

Earlier today a bench of Justice Bela Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said the petition lacked merit and that there was no reason for it to interfere in the case.

READ | “Sorry. Dismissed”: Supreme Court Setback For DK Shivakumar

The Congress last year withdrew consent for the CBI’s inquiry. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claimed his predecessor, the BJP’s BS Yediyurappa greenlit the probe “illegally”. The decision was criticised by the opposition BJP and JDS, which slammed the “immoral” move to “protect” Mr Shivakumar.

The CBI has alleged Mr Shivakumar amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income between 2013 and 2018. He was then a minister in the Congress government that preceded the BJP.

The amount in question is believed to be Rs 74 crore.

The CBI filed its case in 2020. The FIR was challenged, and rejected, by the High Court in 2021.

READ | CBI Challenges K’taka Government Move On DK Shivakumar Row

The High Court had also been moved by the CBI after the state government, in November, approved a proposal to withdraw permission to the federal agency to investigate Mr Shivakumar. The High Court had lifted the state’s stay and directed the agency to submit a report within three months.

Meanwhile, on the sensitive Cauvery water-sharing issue, the Deputy Chief Minister told NDTV, “I am happy to say we are getting good rains. We should be in a better position in days to come.”

The Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments have been locked in a long tussle over the sharing of the Cauvery. The river is seen as a major source of sustenance for the people in both states.

On Sunday, Karnataka decided to release only 8,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu, instead of the 11,500 cusecs it is required to release every day from July 12 to July 31. Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK, which is allied with the Congress at the national level and in the state, will hold an all-party meet of its own on Tuesday. Chief Minister MK Stalin said the refusal violated the Supreme Court’s order.

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Along with his political career, the former MLA from Dakshina Kannada has also succeeded in agriculture and dairy farming.