SC Quashes Money Laundering Case against K’taka Deputy CM Shivakumar

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a money laundering probe against Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

The Congress leader had appealed to the top court against the Karnataka High Court’s decision to reject his request to nullify the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons issued to him in an alleged money laundering case.

Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan granted relief to Shivakumar.

The case traces back to August 2017 when the Income Tax department conducted searches at various locations in Delhi as part of its alleged tax evasion investigation involving Mr. Shivakumar, his purported business associate and liquor trader Sachin Narayan (45), another associate Sunil Kumar Sharma (46) who managed a fleet of luxury buses, 49-year-old Karnataka Bhawan (Delhi) employee A. Hanumanthaiah, and former state government employee and caretaker at Karnataka Bhawan Rajendra N (76).

During the searches, the department seized over ₹8.59 crore, of which more than ₹41 lakh has been adjusted as tax liability of Mr. Shivakumar and over ₹7.58 lakh as that of Mr. Sharma, after they declared the money as their agriculture income and business income, respectively.

Subsequently, the tax department filed a chargesheet before a Bengaluru court on charges of tax evasion against all the accused, and the Enforcement Directorate initiated a money laundering case based on this complaint in 2018.