HC's no to staying ED summons to ex-Congress minister
Bengaluru, Aug 29: In a setback to former Congress minister D.K. Shivakumar, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday declined to stay the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate in December 2018 to him in an alleged money laundering case, an official said.
Dismissing the writ petitions of Shivakumar and four others for quashing the summons, Justice Aravind Kumar directed them to appear before the ED and face the inquiry on the alleged hawala transactions in violation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002," an ED official told IANS here.
The other four petitioners are Sachin Narayana, Sunil Kumar Sharma, Anjaneya Hanumanthaiah and Rajendra, who are associates of the high-profile lawmaker from the Kanakapura assembly segment and a trouble-shooter of the Congress.
The alleged money laundering came to light after raids by the tax sleuths on the premises of Shivakumar in Bengaluru, Kanakapura and New Delhi on August 2, 2017 led to seizure of unaccounted cash worth Rs 8.59 crore and no evidence on its source.
Cases were filed against all the five accused under sections 277 and 278 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and sections 120(B), 193 and 199 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
"The judge also observed that it was for the law enforcing agencies like the ED and I-T department to ascertain if the offence was in violation of the PMLA and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988," said the official.
A party source said Shivakumar was likely to approach the Supreme Court against the High Court order dismissing his petition in the case.
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Bengal: Over 55 pc turnout till 1 pm in repoll in 15 booths of 2 assembly seats
Kolkata (PTI): Over 55 per cent turnout was recorded till 1 pm in repoll in 15 booths of two assembly constituencies in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Saturday, an official said.
Voting was underway more or less peacefully at 11 polling stations of Magrahat Paschim assembly constituency and four in Diamond Harbour, where the EC ordered repoll a day ago, following reports of electoral malpractices.
However, at booth number 179 at Chanda Primary School of Diamond Harbour seat, the Trinamool Congress alleged that a specially abled voter and his mother were harassed by central forces. The alleged incident sparked protests by party workers and locals.
The TMC claimed that the voter's mother, who had entered the booth to assist him, and her son were detained for a considerable time by central forces over alleged rule violations.
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"TMC leaders Manmohini Biswas and Pratik Ur Rahman reached the spot and led the protests, with residents terming the action unwarranted harassment. The matter has been taken care of by our officials there," an official of the poll body said.
Polling was otherwise peaceful across 15 booths in the area, he added.
Voting began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, the official said, adding that till 1 pm, the turnout was 55.57 per cent.
Magrahat Paschim registered 56.33 per cent voter turnout, while in Diamond Harbour, it was 54.9 per cent, a poll official stated.
Voting in these two assembly constituencies was held in the second phase of the state elections on April 29.
The repoll order was based on reports received from returning officers and observers of the two constituencies and "material circumstances", the Election Commission official said.
In Magrahat Paschim, TMC's Md Samim Ahamed Molla is pitted against BJP nominee Goursundar Ghosh, while Abdul Majid Halder of the Congress and ISF candidate Abdul Aziz Al Hassan are also in the fray.
TMC candidate Panna Lal Halder is contesting against Dipak Kumar Halder of the BJP in the Diamond Harbour seat. Goutam Bhattacharya of the Congress and CPI(M)'s Samar Naiya are among other candidates.
The BJP had alleged rampant electoral malpractices in certain polling stations of both the assembly seats under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency, which is represented by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The EC had deputed its special observer, Subrata Gupta, to fact-check the allegations from the ground.
The poll panel will decide on repolling in the Falta assembly constituency on Saturday.
The West Bengal assembly elections were held in two phases -- April 23 and April 29 -- amid unprecedented security arrangements.
Counting of votes will take place on May 4.
