The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed a money laundering case dating back to 2018 against Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan issued the order in response to an appeal by the Congress leader challenging a ruling from the Karnataka High Court in August 2019.
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The case originally stemmed from a money laundering investigation initiated in 2018, following the seizure of around Rs 7 crore in cash during Income Tax raids in 2017 at Delhi premises linked to Shivakumar.
After days of intense interrogation, Shivakumar was arrested by the ED in September 2019. However, he secured bail from the Delhi High Court in October 2019, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court.
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Prior to his arrest, Shivakumar and others had petitioned the Karnataka High Court challenging ED’s summons. In August 2019, Justice Aravind Kumar, now elevated to the Supreme Court, dismissed these writ petitions.
Shivakumar appealed to the Supreme Court against this decision, and the court on Tuesday overturned the High Court’s ruling, quashing the proceedings.
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During the hearing, Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra represented Shivakumar, while Senior Counsel Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi and S Nagamuthu represented the other accused.
Karnataka High Court is yet to address a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking to revive its inquiry into corruption allegations against Shivakumar, who is currently the Deputy Chief Minister. A similar plea from a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA is also pending before the High Court.