Setback for Shivakumar as court extends his ED custody till Sept 17

In a major setback for Congress leader DK Shivakumar, a Delhi court on Friday (September 13) extended his Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody by five more days till September 17.

Shivakumar, who was arrested on September 3 in a money laundering case, was produced before special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar on Friday. The ED sought a five-day extension of the arrested leader’s custody stating that he was evasive and gave irrelevant answers during his custodial interrogation, and that many of his properties are ‘benami’.

Additional Solicitor General KM Natraj said that as per the probe, Shivakumar possessed over ₹200 crore black money and has ₹800 crore worth illegal property. Further, the ED told the court that Shivakumar was not cooperating with the probing officers.

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Opposing the plea for extension of his custodial interrogation, senior Congress leader and advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that Shivakumar’s medical condition is very serious and he is suffering from high blood pressure. Therefore, he argued that Shivakumar must be hospitalised.

Meanwhile on Thursday, Shivakumar’s daughter Aishwarya, who is a trustee in an educational institution run by her father, was grilled by the probe agency in connection with money-laundering probe against him.

Shivakumar’s arrest witnessed widespread protest in Bengaluru, where around 30,000 people belonging to opposition parties and the powerful Vokkaliga community came out on the streets. It marked one of the largest protests by the Vokkaliga community since the early 1990s.

Snapping at the mammoth protest, Karnataka BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje had said that the issue should not be misconstrued as casteist and that the law was the same for everyone.