New Delhi, Nov 2 (Bureau) The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought a reply from the Enforcement Directorate after hearing a plea on behalf of Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar who challenged the investigation initiated by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Justices Mukta Gupta and Anish Dayal issued notice to the ED and listed the matter for December 15 for further hearing. The agency alleged that there was a criminal conspiracy between individuals for concealing and projecting the unaccounted and illegal money as untainted property.
The ED arrested Shivakumar in September 2019. The Delhi High Court granted him bail on October 23, 2019. After sanctions from the Karnataka government, the CBI lodged an FIR in October 2020 alleging that during the period between April 1, 2013 and April 30, 2018, Shivakumar could not satisfactorily explain the possession of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
After that, the ED registered a case in 2020 for probing the laundering of proceeds of crime in relation to the scheduled offence being Section 13 of Prevention of Corruption Act. Shivakumar is challenging the ED proceedings by submitting that the entire aspect of disproportionate assets allegedly acquired by him when he was MLA in Karnataka was thoroughly investigated by the ED in 2018. Counsel for Shivakumar submitted that the agency is re-investigating the same offence. He requested that the entire investigation be quashed in the interest of justice.