Shivakumar appears before ED in money laundering case
New Delhi: Hours after the Karnataka High Court rejected D.K. Shivakumar’s petition for interim protection from arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged involvement in a money laundering case, the senior Congress leader deposed before the probe agency in the national capital on Friday evening.
Shivakumar arrived here from Bengaluru and directly reached the ED headquarters located in Khan Market. After reaching the ED office, Shivakumar told reporters, “I am a law-abiding citizen, and I have legal options which I am exploring.”
The COngress leader also said that he will face the proceedings “legally, politically and socially”.
Earlier in the day, the Karnataka High Court rejected Shivakumar’s petition for interim protection from arrest by the financial probe agency.
The ED had issued the summon on Thursday night, asking Shivakumar to appear before it on Friday afternoon for his alleged involvement in ‘hawala’ transactions in violation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Responding to the ED summon, Shivakumar said in a series of tweets on Friday, “Have received summons from ED late yesterday (Thursday) night asking me to appear at 1 p.m. 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,” said Shivakumar, who’s considered to be the party’s trouble-shooter in the southern state.
In another tweet, he said, “The I-T raid on me was politically motivated for hosting then Gujarat Congress MLAs (at a private resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru in July-August 2017). As a loyal soldier of (the) Congress and a responsible politician, I did what (the) party asked me to do (and) for which I have been targeted.”
Shivakumar has been on the radars of the Income Tax (I-T) Department and the ED since demonetisation in 2016.
The alleged money laundering came to light after I-T sleuths raided Shivakumar’s flat in New Delhi on August 2, 2017 which led to the seizure of unaccounted cash worth Rs 8.59 crore without the evidence of its source.
Cases were filed against him and four of his associates under Sections 277 and 278 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and Sections 120(B), 193 and 199 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).