Delhi HC seeks response of ED on Shivakumar’s plea

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the response of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar’s plea challenging the commencement and continuation of its investigation against him in an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) of 2020.
The petitioner, D.K. Shivakumar, contends that the ED in the impugned proceedings is re-investigating the same offence that it had already investigated in a previous case lodged by it in ECIR 2018. The impugned proceedings have been initiated in complete abuse of the process of law and mala fide exercise of powers vested with the respondent, stated the plea. The investigation by the respondent (ED) in ECIR 2020 is directly infringing the constitutional right guaranteed under Article 20(2) of the Constitution of India and Section 300 of the CrPc, submitted Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar.
The Bench of Justice Mukta Gupta and Justice Aneesh Dayal on Wednesday issued notice to the investigation agency and fixed the matter for December 15, 2022, for the next hearing.
The petition also seeks a declaration that Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Act, 2009, which included Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the Schedule of the PML Act, is ultra vires the Constitution of India.
Plea also stated that the predicate offence in the first ECIR was Section 120B IPC, and the allegations were that the petitioner, in abuse of his official position, conspired with others to launder illegal money acquired during the period he served as the Minister and MLA in the State of Karnataka. The predicate offence in the 2nd ECIR alleges the acquisition of assets by the petitioner during the period between 2013 and 2018 that was disproportionate to his known sources of income.
This clearly shows that the investigation under the PMLA offence is identical in both cases. The respondent in the 1st ECIR had sought custody of the petitioner primarily to investigate the issue pertaining to the growth in assets of the petitioner during the period he served as the Minister and MLA in the State of Karnataka. The commencement of fresh proceedings under the PML Act on identical facts and
Covering the same period is directly infringing the rights guaranteed under the Constitution, more particularly Article 20(2) and Article 21, as the plea stated.
Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa along with Advocate Mayank Jain also appeared for Congress leader DK Shivakumar in the Delhi High Court today.
Congress leader DK Shivakumar, a seven-time MLA in Karnataka, was booked along with Haumanthaiah — an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi — and others over charges of corruption and money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).