Delhi court rejects DK Shivakumar's bail plea in money laundering case

A special court on Wednesday rejected the regular bail plea of Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar in connection with a money laundering case stating that he is "not entitled to bail" at this stage.

The bail plea was rejected by special court judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar, who said that investigation agency must get a free and fair chance to reach a logical conclusion.

The court added that the "accused is not entitled to bail" at this stage of the investigation, adding that the Enforcement Directorate arguments had presented some crucial documents and list of 317 alleged bank accounts of the accused.

The court had also directed the Tihar jail authorities to take care of his all medical issues and take him to Ram Manohar Lohia, Safdarjung and AIIMS hospitals if needed.

Shivakumar, who is currently lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody of Enforcement Directorate, sought bail on health grounds. However, the ED opposed the bail stating that the accused may influence witness and tamper proofs.

On September 19, during the course of proceedings regarding Shivakumar's bail, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) KM Natraj said that Shivakumar had made a transaction of 2 crores by cash. "Total credit in two of his accounts is 161 crores. Prima facie, they have projected Rs 80 crore in the name of the daughter, borrowing is also of a substantial amount," he told the court.

Shivakumar was arrested by the ED on September 3 and was in its custody since then. A Delhi court had sent him to judicial custody till October 1. The money laundering case was registered by the ED against Shivakumar in September last year, based on a complaint filed by the Income Tax (IT) department.The I-T department, during the initial probe, had allegedly found unaccounted and misreported wealth linked to Shivakumar. The department had said that it came across money laundering and hawala operations involving a network of persons across Delhi and Bengaluru.