ED Falsely Presented DK Shivakumar's Declared Assets as Unaccounted Money: Singhvi

Special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar continued to hear the arguments on the bail application filed by Karnataka Congress Leader DK Shivakumar in a money laundering case. As the ED Counsel was absent, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi took court's permission to start with his submissions.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi presented the election declaration of DK Shivakumar which showed the value of his assets and his family's assets, filed in book value. Mr Singhvi argued that ED revalued these assets at the market value and hence presented the inflated figure as laundered money.

Further, it was also submitted my Mr Singhvi that the cash transactions shown by ED were made with a well renowned transportation company in South India and the same have been accounted for in the books of the company.

Earlier, Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for DK Shivakumar, had submitted that the accused doesn't meet the triple test for denying bail. It was argued that since he's a 7 time MLA, a public figure and has his roots in the society, there's no risk of him fleeing from investigation or tampering with the evidence.

It was also pointed out by Mr Rohatgi that the charges against the accused under the Income Tax Act are compoundable offences, hence they are not serious offences and bail should be allowed. He said that since the ED could not invoke PMLA for offences under Income Tax Act, it manufactured a charge of criminal conspiracy under section 120B of the IPC.

As ASG KM Nataraj could not make an appearance before the court, an adjournment was sought by the ED which was granted by the Special Judge.

The matter will now be heard on September 19 before Special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar