DK Shivakumar case summons challenged by 4 in Delhi HC

Bengaluru: Four persons Friday approached the Delhi High Court seeking quashing of summons issued to them by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case allegedly involving Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar.

Justice Brijesh Sethi said it would hear the pleas in detail on November 4 when similar petitions filed by Shivakumar’s wife and mother are also listed.

The court was hearing four separate pleas by Haumanthaiah — an employee at Karnataka Bhavan, K V Lakshmamma, Meenakshi and Jayasheela, seeking challenging the summons issued to them by the probe agency.

Senior advocate Mohit Mathur, representing the four persons, said the ED can go to Bangalore and question them and why the officials are calling them to Delhi.

Central government standing counsel Amit Mahajan, representing the ED, said the similar matters are coming up on Monday and the court can hear all of them together.

Shivakumar’s wife Usha and mother Gowaramma (85) have also challenged in the high court the summons issued to them by the agency in the money laundering case.

A 7-time MLA in Karnataka, Shivakumar was arrested by the ED on September 3 under the PMLA.

He was lodged in Tihar jail, and granted bail by the high court on October 23. He had challenged the trial court’s order denying him bail.

The ED had in September last year registered the money laundering case against Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah and others.

The case was based on a charge sheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the Income Tax Department against them last year before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and ‘hawala’ transactions worth crores of rupees.

The I-T department has accused Shivakumar and his alleged associate S K Sharma of indulging in transactions involving huge amounts of unaccounted money on a regular basis through ‘hawala’ channels with the help of three other accused.