SC quashes money laundering case against DK Shivakumar

New Delhi/Bengaluru | In a relief to Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, the Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed a 2018 money laundering case against him and another accused in the matter.

Shivakumar thanked the top court for dismissing the money laundering probe against him, and said the central agencies are planning to file an appeal against the order but he is equally prepared for it.

The Congress leader had moved the top court against the 2019 order of Karnataka High Court that refused to quash the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons issued to him in an alleged case of money laundering.

A bench of justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan set aside the high court order and allowed the appeals filed by Shivakumar and Karnataka Bhawan (Delhi) employee A Hanumanthaiah.

"Appeals are allowed, the proceedings initiated against the appellants under the PMLA are hereby quashed," the bench said.

Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Congress chief, said he would soon let people know how the CBI targeted him.

"I got information about the relief from the Supreme Court. I learnt that the cases framed against me were found wrong. Today is a day of joy after many difficulties in life," he told reporters in Bengaluru.

When asked whether he felt that the journey is now easy, Shivakumar said he never felt the journey was difficult.

"I went to jail confidently. The more they trouble me, I will only rise politically," he said.

"I prostrate before the judges in the Supreme Court from here. I have been saying that I did nothing but yet I faced numerous problems," he added.

Shivakumar was booked along with Haumanthaiah for alleged offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The case dates back to August 2017 when the Income Tax department had carried out searches at multiple premises in Delhi as part of its alleged tax evasion probe against Shivakumar, his alleged business associate and liquor trader Sachin Narayan, another associate Sunil Kumar Sharma who operated a fleet of luxury buses, Karnataka Bhawan (Delhi) employee A Hanumanthaiah and former state government employee and caretaker posted at the Karnataka Bhawan Rajendra N.

The department during the searches had seized more than Rs 8.59 crore, out of which more than Rs 41 lakh has now been adjusted as tax liability of Shivakumar and more than Rs 7.58 lakh as that of Sharma after they claimed the money as their agriculture income and business income, respectively.

The tax department later filed a charge sheet before a Bengaluru court on charges of tax evasion against all the accused and the ED took cognisance of this complaint to file a money laundering case in 2018.