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By Munish Chandra Pandey: Congress trouble-shooter DK Shivakumar is one of the front-runners to become the next chief minister of Karnataka along with veteran leader Siddaramiah. DK Shivakumar, in the last few months, has openly admitted his aspirations to become the CM of the state and he is one of the contenders. However, the party high command is yet to decide if DK Shivakumar will become the next CM of the state or not.
As per sources, the criminal cases against DK Shivakumar may act as a hurdle for his chances to become the next chief minister. DK Shivakumar has 19 cases against him out of which the central investigative agencies- CBI, ED and Income Tax department – are probing him in a few cases.
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TAX EVASION CASE BY I-T DEPT
DK Shivakumar was raided by the Income Tax department in 2017. According to investigative agencies, Rs 8.5 crore was seized during raids in four premises in New Delhi which were directly linked to Shivakumar. The I-T department also came across three flats purchased in New Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave, also allegedly associated with Shivakumar.
The Income Tax department had claimed to have detected unaccounted money worth over Rs 429 crore.
The IT department filed a chargesheet against Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah, an allegedly close associate and employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and others.
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MONEY LAUNDERING BY ED
Based on the chargesheet filed by the Income Tax department, the Enforcement Directorate filed a money laundering case against DK Shivakumar. ED claims to have discovered Rs 200 crore of unaccounted money, which allegedly belongs to Congress troubleshooter DK Shivakumar. According to the probe agency, they have the details of 317 accounts held by DK Shivakumar in 20 banks. These accounts, the agency had said, have over Rs 200 crore.
The ED also claimed to have recovered documents pertaining to the alleged benami properties of DK Shivakumar worth more than Rs 800 crore.
The ED has also alleged that when DK Shivakumar was confronted about the benami properties and unaccounted money in bank accounts, he remained non-cooperative. However, they have recorded statements of four witnesses in connection to the unaccounted money. On September 3, 2019, the ED arrested DK Shivakumar after over 100 hours of questioning.
DK Shivakumar is also under probe in the National Herald case in which Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi were also questioned by the financial probe agency.
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DISPROPORTIONATE ASSET CASE BY CBI
Based on the information by the ED and IT, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against DK Shivakumar and others in 2020 on allegations of the acquisition of disproportionate assets. Searches were also conducted at multiple locations — nine in Karnataka, four in Delhi and one in Mumbai. Earlier, the then BJP government had given permission to CBI to probe the corruption charges against the leader. DK Shivakumar has not been questioned by the CBI in this case.
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