The Supreme Court of India.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to examine an appeal filed by the Karnataka government against the High Court's judgment which quashed invoking of stringent Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act against BJP MLA B A Basavaraja, in the Shivaprakash murder case.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi issued notice to the legislator, after hearing senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi on his behalf and senior advocate Sidharth Luthra and state's Additional Advocate General Nishanth Patil and advocate Sanchit Garg for the state.
The court posted the matter for final hearing on April 15, 2026.
"Let the HC judgment be not followed as a binding precedent," the bench said.
The state government said, the High Court's ruling that the law required, in order to invoke the provisions of the KCOCA, that the offence must carry a mandatory minimum sentence of three years or more, will have an impact on various cases pending before the trial court.
Rohatgi, appearing for Basavaraja, contended, all this was happening because he belonged to different dispensation.
Luthra, however, submitted, if this interpretation was accepted then statutes will be rendered useless.
The bench also said, any interpretation of attempt to murder will go out of the ambit of the special law, if the High Court's order was followed.
Luthra submitted that the stay of operation of this judgment will not prejudice them. He is on interim bail and bail for others were declined.
In its plea, the state government challenged the validity of the High Court's judgment of December 19, 2025. It stated that the FIR in question was registered based on a complaint by the mother of the deceased, detailing specific acts of threats and intimidation, as well as ongoing disputes between the deceased and the MLA along with his associates, including Jagadeesh, regarding real estate and property deals.
The deceased had expressed fears for his life, which tragically culminated in his murder on July 13, 2025, the plea said.
"The case on hand concerns a serious criminal investigation into the brutal murder of the deceased, involving multiple accused and a web of threats, intimidation, criminal conspiracy and organized crime and unlawful activities.The investigation is still in progress, and crucial evidence is being collected to establish the roles of various accused, including the Respondent, who wields immense political and financial prowess," it stated.
Therefore, interference by the High Court at this stage, when the investigation was ongoing, and the facts were yet to be fully established, caused serious prejudice to the case of the prosecution, the plea contended.
Maintaining that all the ingredients to invoke KCOCA was available in the case, the state government said, the HC wrongly held that if there is no mandatory minimum imprisonment of three years, those offences would not become part of the predicate offence.
As per the law laid down by the Supreme Court on multiple occasions, the state government said, the question to be looked into was whether there was more than one charge sheet for the offence punishable with imprisonment for three years and a cognisable offence to invoke KCOCA.