Delhi court grants bail to 4 in money laundering case involving Karnataka Cong chief DK Shivakumar
New Delhi, Aug 2: A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to four accused in a money laundering case involving Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar.
Special Judge Vikas Dhull granted relief to Sachin Narayan, Sunil Kumar Sharma, Anjaneya Hanumanthaiah and Rajendra N.
The accused had appeared before the judge pursuant to summonses issued to them after the Enforcement Directorate filed a charge sheet in the case.
The court granted them bail on furnishing personal bonds of Rs 1 lakh each with one surety of the like amount.
The court directed the accused not to leave the country without its prior permission or tamper with evidence or influence any witness.
During the arguments, senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for one of the accused, told the court that since the accused were not arrested during the probe, no purpose will now be served by sending them to custody.
Special public prosecutor Nitesh Rana, appearing for the ED, opposed the bail application.
The Enforcement Directorate had arrested Shivakumar on September 3, 2019 in the case and the Delhi High Court granted him bail in October that year.
The anti-money laundering agency had in May filed the charge sheet against Shivakumar and others in the case which it had registered as a corollary to a complaint filed by the Income Tax (IT) department.
The IT department, during the initial probe, had allegedly found "unaccounted and misreported" wealth linked to the influential Congress leader.
Shivakumar had rejected the charges against him as "baseless" and "politically motivated".
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Karnataka legislative session to focus on leadership row, farmers’ issues, flood relief
Belagavi (PTI): The 10-day winter session of the Karnataka Legislature, starting December 8 here, is expected to focus on the Congress leadership tussle, farmers’ grievances, and flood relief.
The unified opposition of the BJP and JD(S) has drawn up a strategy to corner the ruling Congress on multiple issues.
BJP leaders have announced plans to move a no-confidence motion following the leadership row between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar.
Siddaramaiah has asserted that he will complete the full five-year term, while Shivakumar has claimed he was promised the chief ministership midway through the Congress government’s tenure.
The power tussle intensified after the government completed two-and-a-half years on November 20.
Following a war of words on social media, the two leaders later presented a united front through ‘breakfast diplomacy’. However, the fight is far from over, as the party's high command held a meeting in New Delhi on Saturday to discuss the issue in detail.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal told reporters in Delhi on Saturday that the party had discussed Karnataka and that further meetings are expected. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said on Thursday that the government has not received any notice of a no-confidence motion from the opposition.
Farmers’ protests have given the opposition additional ammunition to target the government.
About a month ago, sugarcane growers staged an unprecedented strike, blocking roads to demand Rs 3,500 per tonne against the state government’s offer of Rs 3,200 per tonne.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sought the Centre’s intervention, citing flaws in the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP), which remains frozen at Rs 31 per kilogram, leaving mills unable to pay farmers.
He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revise the sugar MSP, ensure mills can pay farmers, provide assured ethanol offtake for Karnataka distilleries, and issue a central notification for handling and transportation costs to enable transparent, farmer-friendly pricing.
To calm the agitating farmers, the state government offered an additional Rs 100 per tonne, shared equally by the state and mills, raising the net cane price to Rs 3,200-3,300 per tonne.
After the sugarcane strike, maize growers have also protested, demanding procurement at Rs 3,000 per quintal.
The current MSP is Rs 2,400 per quintal, and farmers are seeking a Rs 600 bonus. Ahead of the session, the state government announced increasing maize procurement from 20 quintals per farmer to 50 quintals at Rs 2,400 per quintal.
The session will also see the tabling of 21 bills, including measures to check hate speech and hatred crimes, a law against misinformation, the Daily Wage Employees Welfare (Amendment) Bill, and the Karnataka Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill.
Other key bills include the Karnataka Scheduled Castes (Sub-Categorisation in Reservation) Bill, the Karnataka Domestic Workers (Social Security and Welfare) (Amendment) Bill, and the Karnataka Apartment Ownership (Regulation) Bill.
Law and order issues may also come up during the session in light of recent incidents of robbery and dacoity across the state.
