DK Shivakumar appears before ED office in Delhi for questioning in money-laundering case

New Delhi, Sep 19: Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar has appeared before Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Delhi on Monday for questioning in money-laundering case. He had tweeted on September 15th that he has been summoned by ED in Delhi even as the Assembly session is underway in Karnataka.

He, however added that the timing of the summons is coming in the way of him discharging his constitutional and political duties. "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 on Twitter.

Shivakumar earlier this week launched a campaign titled '40 per cent Sarkara: BJP means Brashtrachara,' to protest the alleged corruption prevailing in the state.

The agency had, in May, filed the charge sheet against Shivakumar and others in the case which it had registered as a corollary to a complaint filed by the Income Tax (I-T) department.

"From the material which has come on record, statements under Section 50 of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), there is sufficient material on record to take cognisance of the offence under section 3 (offence of money laundering) read with section 4 (punishment for money laundering) of the PMLA as all the accused persons knowingly assisted pursuant to criminal conspiracy in the concealment possession of proceeds of crime i.e. unaccounted cash or in projecting it as their lawful business income," the Special Court had said.

The I-T department, during the initial probe, had allegedly found "unaccounted and misreported" wealth linked to the Congress leader.

Shivakumar and others were investigated following a complaint that he as a minister had amassed a huge amount of illegal wealth and that the same was amassed when he was minister. It was also alleged that the wealth was hidden away through a criminal conspiracy along with his associates. The conspiracy involved tax evasion and storing of cash in Delhi, the ED had alleged.

Shivakumar had rejected the charges against him as "baseless" and "politically motivated."

The ED had earlier arrested Shivakumar on September 3, 2019 in a money-laundering case and the Delhi High Court granted him bail in October that year.