The special Enforcement Directorate (ED) court on Tuesday granted bail to Karnataka state Congress president, DK Shivakumar and four others in a case related to money laundering.
Speaking to mediapersons in Delhi after securing bail, he said: ‘’ none of us have done any wrong. We have confidence in the judiciary. We are businessmen and agriculturists who are in politics. It has been five years since Income Tax raided my place when Gujarat MLAs were here. Later it went to ED. More than me, they had booked my associates and bail was very important. So, today this Court has given us justice and I am thankful,” Shivakumar said.
Shivakumar arrived in Delhi to attend court and later accompany Rahul Gandhi to Hubli where the Congress party is holding PAC meeting. Rahul and Dks will then travel to Davangere to attend former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s 75th birth day celebrations.
As far as DKS’s case is concerned, Special Judge Vikas Dhull of Rouse Avenue Court Complex allowed the bail applications filed by Shivakumar and his four associates which include Sachin Narayan, Sunil Kumar Sharma, Rajendra N and Hanumanthiah, an employee at the Karnataka Bhavan on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one surety each of the like amount, IANS reported on Tuesday.
In August 2017, the Income Tax (I-T) department raided several premises owned by the Congress leader, his family and associates.
His home in Sadashivanagar, an upscale neighbourhood in Bengaluru, was raided when he was shielding around 40 Congress legislators from Gujarat ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections in August 2017.
Shivakumar had attracted all the attention on himself and his ability to shield legislators from Karnataka and other states from alleged poaching attempts by political rivals and lodging them in plush hotels, especially Eagleton Golf resort in the outskirts of Bengaluru.
In October 2019, the Delhi High Court had granted conditional bail to Shivakumar 50 days after he was arrested in a money laundering case filed by the ED.