Delhi HC seeks ED's stand on plea by D K Shivakumar against money laundering probe
New Delhi, Nov 2: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the Enforcement Directorate's stand on Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar's plea challenging a money laundering probe initiated against him by the agency.
A bench of justices Mukta Gupta and Anish Dayal issued a notice on the MLA's petition which also assails the constitutional validity of the inclusion of the offence pertaining to disproportionate assets under the Prevention of Corruption Act as a "scheduled act" under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act.
The petitioner, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, asserted that the Enforcement Directorate's investigation in the present instance, pursuant to a case registered in 2020, cannot be sustained as it reinvestigates the offence which it has already investigated in a previous case lodged in 2018 and filed a complaint.
Sibal argued that there can be no case for the offence of money laundering on allegations of disproportionate assets.
"Once you have come to the conclusion that the assets are disproportionate to the known sources of income, there cannot be money laundering after that. There cannot be as a matter of law," he said.
"In the previous prosecution, they have investigated this very thing. Now that the elections are near, they have started this process before the elections and he should be arrested," Sibal said.
In the plea filed by advocates Mayank Jain, Parmatma Singh and Madhur Jain, the petitioner submitted that the second set of proceedings is a "complete abuse of process of law and malafide exercise of powers" and also violates the constitutional provisions relating to double jeopardy.
"The entire aspect of disproportionate assets allegedly acquired by the petitioner when he was minister/MLA in the state of Karnataka was thoroughly investigated by the respondent in the first ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) and thus, the initiation of separate proceedings on the same set of facts and ingredients of the offence is impermissible in law and amounts to malafide exercise of power by the respondent," the plea said.
"The impugned ECIR/18/HIU/2020 is lodged on the same set of facts which were already investigated by the respondent in the previous ECIR/04/HIU/2018...," it said.
The commencement of fresh proceedings under the PML Act on identical facts and covering the same period is "directly infringing the rights guaranteed under the Constitution more particularly Article 20(2) and Article 21...", the plea said.
"Furthermore, the inclusion of Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the Schedule of PML Act is ultra vires the Constitution as the ingredients of the offence under the said provision is same as the ingredients required to attract the offence under Section 3 of the PML Act," it stated.
The plea submitted that Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act is a complete code which envisages the aspect of laundering of ill-gotten wealth by a public servant in the form of assets and there cannot be any further activity of laundering the proceeds again.
It is also alleged that the Delhi office of Enforcement Directorate has no territorial jurisdiction to conduct the present investigation and summon the petitioner who is a permanent resident of Bengaluru.
The matter would be heard next on December 15.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
