DK Shivakumar told reporters that he was unaware of the reason behind the visit and the following inquiry.
Published Dec 19, 2022 | 8:19 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 19, 2022 | 8:19 PM
Karntaka Congress president DK Shivakumar. (Twitter)
Central investigation agencies, including the CBI, conducted an inquiry with the staff of the Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar-owned National Education Foundation on Monday, 19 December.
The inquiry was a part of a case, which is being probed, but no searches or raids were carried out, sources in the CBI said.
The Congress leader, who is also an MLA from Kanakapura, told reporters in Belagavi that the officers visited the NEF in Bengaluru and inquired with its staff.
He, however, said he was unaware of the reason behind the visit.
“I don’t know why they went there. I just know that they came and met our trustees and staff. I have no clue what they inquired with them,” he said.
According to him, there were no cases against the NEF Trust. He added that he would face the situation.
The Congress leader has been facing a money-laundering charge.
Meanwhile, sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation said it was neither a raid nor a search.
“Already, a case has been registered. So it’s just part of that inquiry but no searches or raids were carried out,” a source told PTI.
Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said he has no clue about the background behind the visit of the officials of the central agency.
He, however, maintained that the questioning should not be seen as politically motivated because the Enforcement Directorate had raided him in the past when there were no elections around.
Jnanendra also said the BJP did not require to use the Central agencies for political gains.
“There is no need for BJP in this country to conduct raids for political gain,” the Home Minister said.
The team visited the NEF while the winter session of the Assembly is on in Belagavi.
Shivakumar’s run-in with central agencies began in 2017 when he was shielding Gujarat Congress MLAs from being poached by the BJP. With elections in Karnataka barely months away, the Vokkaliga strongman is facing the heat from the Income Tax (I-T) Department, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). All the cases that the central agencies have taken up against Shivakumar are interlinked.
It all started with an I-T raid in August 2017. The raid came at a time Shivakumar was playing host to 44 Congress MLAs from Gujarat ahead of Late Ahmed Patel’s Rajya Sabha election.
The raids led to I-T Department filing three cases against Shivakumar on charges of tax evasion and suppression of income, Benami Properties (Prohibition act), and a criminal case for destruction of evidence. I-T officials claimed that Shivakumar tore up papers containing crucial transaction information during the raids.
Based on the I-T chargesheet, the ED registered a case of money laundering against Shivakumar in 2018. Incidentally, a special court for elected representatives in February 2019 discharged Shivakumar in all three cases filed by the I-T department on the grounds of “bad law: but it to launch fresh prosecution.
The ED case was based on the I-T department’s charges against Shivakumar and his associates for alleged hawala transactions through offshore and obscure accounts. In October 2020, the CBI came knocking at Shivakumar’s door accusing him of acquiring assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
