ED summons during yatra harassment, says Shivakumar
Special Judge Vikas Dhull of the Enforcement Directorate court allowed the bail applications filed by Shivakumar and his four associates on a personal bond of ₹1 lakh each with one surety each of the like amount, HT had reported earlier.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar on Thursday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) not giving him more time to appear before the agency was “political harassment”.Shivakumar, who is currently taking part in the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra, has been summoned to appear in the money laundering case.
“I requested the Enforcement Directorate to postpone their summons in view of the #BharatJodoYatra. Their rejection is a clear sign that the timing of their summons is political harassment. They don’t like my participation in the #BharathAikyataYatre,” Shivakumar said in a post on Twitter.
His statements come after the ED summoned Shivakumar and his brother who is also Bengaluru Rural MP, DK Suresh, to appear before the investigation agency on October 7.
“You are once again directed to present yourself before me at my office for recording of your statement on 07.10.2022 as per summons dated 23.09.2022,” the notice issued on Thursday by ED assistant director Kuldeep Singh read.
In August, the ED court had granted bail to Shivakumar and four others in a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Special Judge Vikas Dhull of Rouse Avenue Court Complex allowed the bail applications filed by Shivakumar and his four associates which include Sachin Narayan, Sunil Kumar Sharma, Rajendra N and Hanumanthiah, an employee at the Karnataka Bhavan on a personal bond of ₹1 lakh each with one surety each of the like amount, HT had reported earlier.
In August 2017, the Income Tax (I-T) department raided several premises owned by the Congress leader, his family and associates and claimed to have unearthed crores of rupees in unaccounted income.
His home in Sadashivanagar, an upscale neighbourhood in Bengaluru, was raided when he was allegedly shielding around 40 Congress legislators from Gujarat ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections in August 2017.
In October 2019, the Delhi high court had granted bail to Shivakumar 50 days after he was arrested in the money laundering case filed by the ED.
On 26 September 2019, Shivakumar moved the Delhi high court for a bail after the special court dismissed the Congress leader’s bail application.
A special court had extended till 25 October 2019 the judicial custody of the Karnataka leader, who was arrested by the ED on September 3 under the PMLA Act after four days of interrogation.
ED had at the time opposed a bail to Shivakumar citing fears that the latter would misuse his influential position to tamper with the evidence. However, the court allayed these fears as all the documents related to the case were in possession of the probe agency.