Bengaluru: The Karnataka high court on Thursday dismissed a petition by former minister DK Shivakumar seeking to quash the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
Justice Arvind Kumar dismissed the writ petition by the former water resources minister, stating that the plea had no merit.
Reading the order, Justice Kumar said mere suspicion on the part of authorities that tainted money is flown into the mainstream economy as untainted money is sufficient enough for them to investigate. The court said authorities can collect information and record statements even from those who are not offenders.
"In the course of the investigation, the authorities may arrive at a conclusion that there is no necessity for further investigation and the matter at that stage can be dropped. Or in the event of authorities finding any material, it may then proceed to adjudicate. It all depends on circumstances emerging from the investigation," the judge added.
Shivakumar will have to appear before the investigating agency unless he gets relief from the Supreme Court. His lawyer, Sandeep Patil, said they would move the apex court.
Shivakumar, the water resources minister in the previous Congress-JDS coalition government, had filed a petition in the high court seeking directions to quash the summons issued by the ED in February. The ED had served the summons to Shivakumar and four others and asked them to be present at the office of the directorate for hearing in a case filed in September last year.
In raids conducted by the Income Tax Department in 2017, large amounts of cash was unearthed from Shivakumar's properties.
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