Not aware of the case for which I got ED summons, says Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Sep 16: Congress president in Karnataka, D K Shivakumar, who has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), on Friday said he was not aware of the case for which he has been asked to appear before the central agency.
Alleging that those who have business transactions with him are being questioned, Shivakumar said he is unable to understand what illegal acts he has committed.
The ED had earlier arrested Shivakumar on September 3, 2019 in a money-laundering case and the Delhi High Court granted him bail in October that year.
The agency had, in May this year filed the charge sheet against him and others in the case which it had registered as a corollary to a complaint filed by the Income Tax (I-T) department.
The I-T department, during the initial probe, had allegedly found "unaccounted and misreported" wealth linked to the Congress leader.
Shivakumar had rejected the charges against him as "baseless" and "politically motivated."
Addressing reporters today, he said: "Everyday people around me, those who have business transactions with me are being called by ED and CBI and are being questioned. I have asked in the High Court about its origins. I do not know about the case registered by ED, only CBI had filed FIR. What FIR has ED filed and why, I don't know."
The former Minister said there was one case in which a charge sheet was filed by the ED, and that he had appeared before the court in connection with that case.
"With regard to the second case, some people are being investigated about me, I don't know why they are doing it. I will try to know about it. They have called me on Monday, I'm discussing with my advocates. The assembly session is on and there is also 'Bharat Jodo march', I have my own responsibilities too."
Calling the action of the ED as "harassment", both Shivakumar and Congress party have questioned the timing of the summons when the Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' was on and when the State Assembly session was underway.
They have accused the Narendra Modi-headed government at the Centre of having brought the ED - "the Election Dept of BJP"- to target him.
He said he doesn't know what case the ED has summoned him for. In CBI, there is a disproportionate assets case for which the then government led by B S Yediyurappa had given permission (for prosecution), and an FIR has been booked in that case.
Asked whether he will appear before ED, he said, "let's see....but I will cooperate. Our workers are a bit upset looking at the harassment; all those who were with me are being harassed. I'm unable to understand what illegal things I have committed."
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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