SC dismisses money laundering case against Karnataka Dy CM Shivakumar

The Congress leader had moved the top court against the Karnataka High Court order that refused to quash the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons issued to him in an alleged case of money laundering.

A bench of justices Surya Kant and K.V. Viswanathan granted the relief to Mr. Shivakumar.

The case dates back to August 2017 when the Income Tax department had carried out searches at multiple premises in Delhi as part of its alleged tax evasion probe against Mr. Shivakumar, his alleged business associate and liquor trader Sachin Narayan (45), another associate Sunil Kumar Sharma (46) who operated a fleet of luxury buses, 49-year-old Karnataka Bhawan (Delhi) employee A. Hanumanthaiah and former state government employee and caretaker posted at the Karnataka Bhawan Rajendra N (76).

The department during the searches had seized more than ₹8.59 crore, out of which more than ₹41 lakh has now been adjusted as tax liability of Mr. Shivakumar and more than ₹7.58 lakh as that of Mr. Sharma after they claimed the money as their agriculture income and business income, respectively.

The tax department later filed a chargesheet before a Bengaluru court on charges of tax evasion against all the accused and the Enforcement Directorate took cognizance of this complaint to file a money laundering case in 2018.