Supreme Court Quashes Money Laundering Case Against Shivakumar

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a 2018 money laundering case against Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. The apex court pointed out that the proceedings against Shivakumar under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) were not in accordance with the law and rules.

A two-judge bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi dismissed the case linked to unaccounted cash found during Income Tax raids in Shivakumar’s flats in Delhi in August 2017.

The court stated that the investigating agency could not link the source of the recovered cash to money laundering.

Shivakumar had moved the Supreme Court against the Karnataka High Court’s 2019 order refusing to quash the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons issued to him in the alleged case of money laundering.

Following the Income Tax raids in 2017, the ED also initiated an investigation against him. Then the CBI sought permission from the Karnataka government to register an FIR against the Congress leader.

In September 2019, Shivakumar was arrested by the ED and about a week later, an FIR was lodged. Shivakumar challenged the FIR in the Karnataka High Court.