CBI court extends D K Shivakumar’s ED custody till Sept 17

Agencies
September 13, 2019

New Delhi, Sept 13: A Delhi court on Friday extended by five days the ED custody of Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar. 

Shivakumar was arrested on September 3 by the ED in a money laundering case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had on Friday sought in a Delhi court five-day extension of custodial interrogation of Shivakumar, saying he was evasive in his replies.

He was produced before the court on the expiry of his 9-day custodial interrogation by the agency. He was sent to ED's custody on September 4.

The probe agency told the court that Shivakumar, 57, was evasive and gave irrelevant answers during the interrogation, and many of his properties are 'benami'.

"As per the probe against Shivakumar, tainted money is more than Rs 200 crore and there is Rs 800 crore worth 'benami' property," said Additional Solicitor General K M Natraj, representing the ED.

The ED needs to confront him with voluminous documents it has collected so far in the case, he said and claimed that Shivakumar was withholding information which was solely in his knowledge.
To this, the judge said, "I am sure he won't answer questions in the next five days either. Why do you need his custody".

The ASG replied that there are statements by some other accused and Shivakumar needs to be confronted with them.

Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Shivakumar, opposed ED's plea for further custodial interrogation and said the Congress leader's medical condition is very serious and he must be in hospital and that he is suffering from high blood pressure.

Shivakumar has been in custody since September 3 and today is the 10th day, the counsel said, adding that he must be given active medical assistance.

"Just because there is power to give remand for 15 days, does not mean that it should be granted," the counsel contended while opposing agency's plea seeking further custodial interrogation.
Singhvi told the court that ED has not filed reply on Shivakumar's bail plea yet.

"I am a law-abiding citizen," Shivakumar's counsel told the court, which said he will get the best hospital facilities whenever he wants.

"You have the right to not file a reply but you can't claim automatic remand," Singhvi told court.

He further said that Shivakumar's 22-year-old daughter Aishwarya was also interrogated by the ED.

"I have nothing to hide. If you want to interrogate me, you can call me for interrogation anytime," he told court.

Aishwarya, a management graduate, was questioned and her statement recorded under PMLA.

According to sources, she was also confronted with documents and statements made by Shivakumar with regard to a trip to Singapore he made with her in 2017. Aishwarya is a trustee in an education trust floated by her father.

The court had earlier allowed ED to interrogate the politician in custody, saying the allegations made against him were serious in nature.

ED officials had alleged that the trust, holding assets and businesses worth crores, operates a number of engineering and other colleges and Aishwarya is the main person behind them.

The former cabinet minister and sitting MLA from Kanakapura seat had appeared before the ED for questioning on September 3 for the fourth time at its headquarters here.

After a long session of grilling, Shivakumar was placed under arrest as per provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED had in September last year registered the money laundering case against Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah, an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and others.

Shivakumar had to appear before the ED after Karnataka High Court last week dismissed his petition challenging the summons issued to him by the agency.

The ED had filed the PMLA case against him and others based on a charge sheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the Income Tax Department against them last year before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions worth crores.

The I-T department has accused Shivakumar and his alleged associate S K Sharma of transporting a huge amount of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through 'hawala' channels with the help of three other accused.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa has plenty on his plate ahead of the 2020-21 state budget to be presented on March 5 what with the economic slowdown and a sizeable shortfall in revenue, but the biggest worry is the uncertainty surrounding Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation from the Centre.

There is also uncertainty over the state’s share under devolution of funds as per the 14th Finance Commission recommendation.

Finance department officials say that while Rs 3,500 crore is expected as GST compensation for every two months, the devolution of funds would have yielded about Rs 7,000 crore for the current fiscal. But the economic slowdown appears to have hit the Centre’s finances and is likely to impact the state’s share of funds.

“The GST payment for August-September came only in December and we are unsure how much we will get for October-November and December-January,” an official said. Estimates suggest the state’s share under devolution of funds could be reduced by half.

At a meeting of finance department officials last week, Yediyurappa is said to have admitted that unlike those states where non-BJP parties are in power — they have threatened agitations and court cases — the government cannot go “against” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime.

Instead, Yediyurappa has urged senior IAS finance department officials to lobby for funds with their counterparts in New Delhi. On his part, Yediyurappa is said to have already written to Modi and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to at least release the state’s share of GST compensation for the current calendar year of 2019. He is planning to personally meet the PM in Delhi to push the state’s case.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 29,2020

Dammam, May 29: A woman hailing from Mangaluru, who was waiting for repatriation amidst coronavirus lockdown in Saudi Arabia, passed away yesterday after a brief illness.

The deceased has been identified as Lateefa (55), wife of Abdul Azeez, a resident of Angaragundi near Baikampady on the outskirts of the city.

She had flown to Saudi Arabia in November 2019 along with her husband to spend some time with their NRI son in Dammam. They were supposed to return in April this year.

After the sudden cancellation of regular flights due to lockdown, they were waiting for the repatriation flights from Dammam to Mangaluru or Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, Lateefa’s health condition worsened and she was hospitalised. She passed away on Thursday without responding to any treatment. Last rites are expected to take place in Dammam.

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News Network
April 5,2020

New Delhi, April 5: Former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to offer a "credible scientific and rational" explanation for his candle-lighting call and said he is giving "meaningless tasks" to an already exhausted population.

The JD(S) leader questioned if the Prime Minister asked the nation to observe a candle-light vigil on the eve of foundation day of BJP.

"Has the PM slyly asked the nation to observe a candle light vigil on the eve of foundation day of BJP? April 6 being its foundation day, what else can explain the choice of date & time for this event? I challenge the PM to offer a credible scientific and rational explanation," Kumaraswamy tweeted.

"The government is yet to provide PPEs for doctors and make test kits affordable for the common man. Without telling the nation what concrete steps are being taken to combat COVID-19 menace, the prime minister is giving meaningless tasks to an already exhausted population," he tweeted.

"It is shameful to convert the national crisis into an event of self aggrandizement & it is beyond shameful to push the hidden agenda of his party in the face of global calamity. May sense prevail upon the PM," the JDS leader said in another tweet.

Amid a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, Prime Minister Modi on Friday appealed to countrymen to light diyas and candles on April 5 at 9 pm to fight the darkness spread by the pandemic. He asked the people to turn off all the lights in their homes and stand at doors or balconies and light candles or diyas, torches or mobile flashlights for 9 minutes on April 5.

Last month, PM Modi had asked the people to come out in their balconies and clap and beat utensils to show appreciation for doctors, nurses and others helping fight coronavirus on 'Janata Curfew'.

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