The Delhi High Court today sought Enforcement Directorate, ED’s response on the bail plea of Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar in a money laundering case. Shivakumar, arrested by ED in a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, approached the High Court challenging the trial court’s order denying him bail.
Shivakumar was arrested by the ED on September 3 after undergoing four days of interrogation in relation to the case. The ED had cited Shivakumar’s non-cooperation during the questioning as the reason for his arrest.
His bail plea was rejected by the Special CBI Court last week. The Court stated that he was not entitled to bail at this stage of the investigation. While rejecting the plea for bail on medical grounds, the Court had stated,
“Medical ground by itself considering the nature of the offence and the stage of investigation, is not considered a justified ground for bail.”
Appearing for Shivakumar before the Delhi High Court today, Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan argued for bail to Shivakumar on the ground that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case against him could not be sustained in view of the absence of a predicate offence.
It was submitted that the predicate offence in the case, i.e. Section 276C(1), 277 and 278 IT Act, was not a scheduled offence under the PMLA, and thus ED had no jurisdiction to initiate the probe. After briefly hearing Krishnan, the Court proceeded to issue notice.
After the end of the maximum period of police custody post arrest, DK Shivakumar was sent to 14-day judicial custody on September 17. His custody ends on October 1.
The matter will be taken up next on October 14.
(With inputs from ‘Bar & Bench)
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