A special court in New Delhi extended the Enforcement Directorate’s custody of DK Shivakumar till September 17. The Enforcement Directorate on Friday told the court that they need more time as the questioning was yet to be completed.
Assistant Solicitor General KM Nataraj told the court that DK Shivakumar and his family members collectively have 317 bank accounts and accused him of laundering more than Rs 200 crore cash. The ED accused DK Shivakumar and his family members of acquiring assets worth more than Rs 800 crores through tainted money.
The Enforcement Directorate had arrested DK Shivakumar on September 3 and the court had granted the agency custody of Shivakumar till September 13.
Arguing for Shivakumar, senior advocate and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that Shivakumar must be granted relief on medical grounds and that Shivakumar is suffering from high blood pressure.
Singhvi said that Shivakumar had been given active medical assistance and further argued that the ED cannot keep tracing the proceeds of the crime and that the accused being evasive cannot be a legal argument to seek remand.
The prosecution, which was represented by Assistant Solicitor General KM Nataraj and Amit Mahajan, the ED’s standing counsel, told the court that Shivakumar was withholding information which is solely in his knowledge. They argued that the ED has gathered a large volume of evidence regarding which the central agency needs to question him further.
ED’s counsel informed the court that Shivakumar needed to be questioned regarding the statements made by the other accused in the alleged money laundering case. The court noted that the ED had not yet filed objections to Shivakumar’s bail plea. The court extended Shivakumar’s custody till Monday and instructed ED to file objections after he will be produced in court on Monday.
DK Shivakumar’s daughter Aisshwarya was questioned by the ED on Thursday for 7 hours. Aisshwarya was questioned regarding several of her business transactions in Singapore and India. The ED also questioned her regarding her investment in a green energy company in Kolar and how she had increased her assets from Rs 1.08 crore to Rs 108 crore in a span of five years.