The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday night issued a summons to former Karnataka Minister DK Shivakumar to appear before it for questioning in connection with a Rs 7-crore money laundering case. DK Shivakumar’s counsel, BV Acharya, on Friday morning, moved the Karnataka High Court seeking interim protection for DK Shivakumar from the ED until he could appeal the High Court’s decision to dismiss his plea to quash the summons.
The Enforcement Directorate’s counsel, MB Nargund filed objections to DK Shivakumar’s plea and requested the court to dismiss it. “How can we proceed after dismissing the plea? Why can’t you place your request before the ED?” Justice Arvind Kumar questioned BV Acharya.
The court, however, adjourned the hearing to Friday afternoon.
On Thursday, High Court judge Arvind Kumar had dismissed DK Shivakumar’s plea to quash the Enforcement Directorate’s summons to question him. Just a day after the petition was dismissed, the ED summoned DK Shivakumar for questioning.
“Please don't take tension, I have not taken tension, there is no need to take tension. I have not committed any mistake. I have not committed any rape or taken money, there is nothing against me,” DK Shivakumar told the media on Friday morning.
The Congress leader is scheduled to fly out of Bengaluru at 1 pm to appear before the ED office in New Delhi.
“I have received a summons from ED late last night (Thursday) at 9.40 pm asking for me to appear at 1 pm in Delhi today (Friday). Although the sudden scheduling by ED is malafide, I believe in the rule of law and will definitely participate and fully cooperate with them and abide by the law of our country,” DK Shivakumar said on Twitter on Friday.
He also alleged that the Income Tax Department’s search and seizure operation carried out at his home and properties owned by him and his associates in August 2017 was politically motivated.
“I've requested the court that it's a simple Income Tax matter. I've already filed ITR. There's no Prevention of Money Laundering Act. I-T raid on me was politically motivated for hosting Gujarat Congress MLAs. As a loyal soldier of Congress and a responsible politician, I did what party asked me to do, for which I am being targeted I have full faith in legal systems and will face this legally as well as politically,” DK Shivakumar added.
The case against DK Shivakumar and two others was filed by the ED in September 2018. The case is related to unaccounted cash unearthed by the Income Tax Department during raids in properties owned by Shivakumar and his associates in August 2017. More than Rs 7 crore in unaccounted cash was allegedly recovered by Income Tax sleuths from properties owned by the senior Congress leader in New Delhi, including from his Safdarjung Enclave residence.
DK Shivakumar was then booked under Section 120(b) of the Income Tax Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. His business associates Sachin Narayan, Sunil Kumar Sharma (owners of Sharma Travels) were also booked and Anjaneya Hanumant and Rajendran – employees of Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, where the cash was found, were named as the co-accused.
Rajendran is a caretaker of Karnataka Bhavan and also works for Sharma, the proprietor of Sharma Travels, which runs a luxury bus service. The ED has alleged that Shivakumar and Sharma had set up a massive hawala network to launder money from New Delhi to various parts of the country. The ED suspects that Hanumanthaiah, the employee of Karnataka Bhavan, was responsible for storing the unaccounted money.