Bengaluru: With the Central Bureau of Investigation serving notice to Kerala-based Jaihind Communications Pvt Ltd channel headed by him, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday alleged that a big conspiracy is going on to finish him politically.
The central agency issued a notice to the firm on Sunday seeking details of the investments made in the channel by Mr Shivakumar in connection with a disproportionate assets case against the Congress leader.
The Bengaluru unit of the agency, which is probing the case against Mr Shivakumar, had asked the managing director of Jaihind Communications Pvt. Ltd. to appear before it on January 11, 2024, along with all the requisite documents sought by the investigation officer.
Reacting to the latest development, the Deputy CM said if the CBI wants to arrest him, then let them do so as he is prepared for it.
Mr Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Congress unit president, wondered how the CBI was issuing notices against his firm though it had all the documents with it.
"I don't know how they are issuing notices. They have all the documents with them. It's not because they don't have any documents. There are big people to harass me. I know it all. It's not that I am unaware of it. Let them do whatever they want to finish me politically," Mr Shivakumar, who is an MLA from Kanakapura, told reporters.
"There is a big conspiracy going on. Some BJP leaders had said earlier that they would send me to jail. They have conveyed their message to the department concerned. I have asked those who have spoken about me to come for discussion. There is a big plot being hatched," he said.
Stating that he has not done anything wrong, and he will get justice, Mr Shivakumar said let the CBI conduct any inquiry against him.
To a question whether he had got the notice, he said his firm had got it.
"My partnership firm of which I am the chief, has been served notice. They are asking my children, my wife and relatives. The CBI is asking our family members and those from our village who are directors of the society," Mr Shivakumar explained.
When asked whether he got individual notice, he said the CBI will first finish their investigation at the firm level and then come after him.
Mr Shivakumar said the state government had handed over the matter to Lokayukta though he did not request or insist on it.
The government has withdrawn the permission granted to the CBI to prosecute cases against him and handed over the case to the Lokayukta.
He said that he would answer the Lokayukta whenever it asks for it.
"Earlier the case was given to the CBI. The investigation has not been completed yet. They wanted cross-examination, which they haven't done. Now, based on their notice, (it seems) they did not do even 10 per cent of the investigation, but they told the court that 90 per cent of the inquiry is over. I don't know the basis behind their claim," Mr Shivakumar pointed out.
To a question about whether he would challenge the notice, he said the CBI is summoning him but "there is no occasion for me to go there." "They are asking me to challenge their notice. If they want to see me behind bars, then let them do it. I have no problem. I am ready for it," he said.
Mr Shivakumar who is accused in a money laundering case, had spent 51 days in Tihar Jail in 2019.
Recently, the Karnataka government withdrew the permission granted to the CBI to probe cases against Mr Shivakumar, saying that it was ‘not in accordance with law'.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)