Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar on Thursday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had issued him another summon to appear before the agency in a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Act .
“In the midst of the #BharatJodoYatra and the assembly session, they have again issued me an ED summon to appear. I am ready to cooperate but the timing of this summon and the harassment I am put through, is coming in the way of discharging my constitutional and political duties,” Shivakumar said in a post on Twitter.
Reacting to the incident, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala said that chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and the BJP are getting scared of the growing support for the Congress and fearing the backlash from corruption charges.
“Seeing the overwhelming public support for Congress and resounding response to preparation for #BharatJodoYatra , Modi Govt has brought the ED - the Election Deptt of BJP to target @DKShivakumar. Such cowardly acts will strengthen our resolve to decimate the corrupt Bommai Govt!(sic),” Surjewala tweeted.
The ED summons come over a month after a special court had granted bail to Shivakumar and four others in a money laundering case.
{{/usCountry}}The ED summons come over a month after a special court had granted bail to Shivakumar and four others in a money laundering case.
{{/usCountry}}In August 2017, the income tax (I-T) department had raided several premises owned by the Congress leader, his family and associates and claimed to “have unearthed crores of rupees in unaccounted income.”
After being arrested by ED on September 3, 2019, Shivakumar had moved the Delhi high court on September 26 for a bail. In October 2019, the Delhi high court granted bail to Shivakumar.
ED had at the time opposed a bail to Shivakumar citing fears that the latter would misuse his influential position to tamper with evidence. However, the court allayed these fears as all the documents related to the case were in possession of the probe agency.