4 people move HC challenging summons in money laundering case involving Congress leader Shivakumar
New Delhi, Nov 1: 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.
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Indian startup's 'Drishti' satellite launched aboard SpaceX rocket
New Delhi (PTI): Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite was launched on Sunday aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from California.
Mission Drishti is the world's first OptoSAR satellite, integrating electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform, according to the company.
While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses.
In a statement, Suyash Singh, founder and CEO of GalaxEye, said, "With the satellite (Mission Drishti) now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload."
The satellite will help address long-standing limitations of conventional systems and enable more reliable and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions, the company said.
As a dual-use Earth observation satellite, the mission will support use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.
The satellite is also expected to complement India's broader initiatives, including the 29 active Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO's recent annual report.
The launch came after five years of indigenous research and development, and extensive environmental testing and performance validation of the Mission Drishti.
In a statement, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, "GalaxEye has achieved what only a few global players have, which is seamlessly combining optical and SAR capabilities on a single platform to enable persistent, all-weather intelligence."
What stands out is not just the technology, but its broader impact on how downstream applications will increasingly define value in the space economy, particularly in Earth observation, where timely, decision-grade insights are critical," he added.
ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took note of the Mission Drishti launch, saying the development marked a significant milestone in India's space journey.
In a post on X, the minister said, "The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and the largest privately-built satellite in the country, reflects the immense potential of our young innovators driving nation-building."
GalaxEye aims to scale up Mission Drishti to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030, developing a robust and sovereign Earth observation infrastructure for India.
