New Delhi, 20 January (H.S.): The Delhi High Court on Tuesday deferred hearing a petition by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar seeking to stay the ongoing Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation against him in a money laundering case.

Justice Navin Chawla's bench scheduled the next hearing for March 10.The court had issued notice to the ED on November 2, 2022. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Shivakumar, argued that the ED was reinvestigating a 2020 case despite registering an FIR in 2018.

He contended that Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is unconstitutional, questioning how a money laundering case could proceed when the CBI had already filed charges for disproportionate assets.

Case Timeline

Shivakumar was arrested by the ED on September 3, 2019. The Delhi High Court granted him bail on October 23, 2019, with a surety of ₹25 lakh. The ED challenged this in the Supreme Court, but the petition was dismissed on November 15, 2019.

The Rouse Avenue Court took cognizance on May 31, 2022, of the ED's chargesheet filed against Shivakumar and four others on May 26, 2022. Both CBI (disproportionate assets) and ED (money laundering) cases run parallel against him.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar