On November 6, Karnataka Congress Chief DK Shivakumar said in a statement that he would skip Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons in connection to the alleged National Herald Money Laundering case. Speaking to ANI, he said instead of appearing before ED, he would be attending a birthday party of a party worker.
Shivakumar said, “I will not appear before ED tomorrow, will be participating in a party worker’s birthday event.” Earlier, on November 5, he told ANI that he and his brother DK Suresh were summoned by ED to depose before the investigating officer on November 7. “I’ll take a decision on it today,” he had said.
Reports suggest that the brothers were summoned by the investigating agency to question them about the unspecified amount of money donated to Young India in the past. Young India is the company that owns National Herald. Earlier, ED had questioned Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the matter.
Shivakumar was earlier questioned on October 7 at the Delhi office of ED. Another questioning happened on September 19 where he was quizzed in another money laundering case linked to the alleged possession of disproportionate assets.
The case against Congress leader DK Shivakumar
In May 2022, ED filed charge sheet against DK Shivakumar under various Sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a Delhi court. The investigation agency stated that there is no account of Shivakumar’s assets worth about Rs 8 crore.
On September 3, 2019, DK Shivakumar was arrested by the ED for not cooperating during the investigation of him. He was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after his links with corrupt Karnataka state government officials were established. The money laundering angle came to light after-tax officials raided Shivakumar’s residence are other locations in New Delhi, in August 2017, which led to the seizure of unaccounted cash worth Rs.8.59 crore without evidence of its source of income.
DK Shivakumar was granted bail in the same year in October after he moved the High Court for bail when his bail plea was rejected by a special CBI Court. Others penalised along with Shivakumar were his business associates Sachin Narayan and Sunil Kumar Sharma (owners of Sharma Travels) and Anjaneya Hanumant and Rajendran, the employees of Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, where the cash was found.