BENGALURU: The Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate strongly defended the cases registered against Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar under the provisions of the IPC, I-T Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act, in objections filed before the Karnataka High Court. Shivakumar had filed petitions questioning the validity of criminal proceedings initiated before the Special Court by the central agencies.
On Friday, both the agencies filed their objections before Justice Aravind Kumar, who is hearing the petitions filed by Shivakumar. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Shivakumar, submitted that he required two hours to complete his arguments, so the court adjourned the hearing to March 7, due to paucity of time.
The Enforcement Directorate recently issued a show-cause notice to Shivakumar to appear before it in person, in relation to money laundering, whereas the I-T department initiated proceedings against him before the Special Court for allegedly wilfully evading tax. In its objections, the ED contended that the show-cause notice cannot be quashed since the case is only in the nascent stages of investigation.
The I-T department contended that the huge unaccounted-for cash seized from the premises of Shivakumar and others, showed that none of the accused maintained any books reflecting the transactions, and no advance tax was paid. They were also unable to explain the source of the cash. Considering all this, the filing of returns is an afterthought to get away from the clutches of law, it said.
The I-T department also submitted that the modus operandi adopted by Shivakumar in collusion with other accused to deal and transact with unaccounted-for cash, materials found in support of the transactions, cash found in the premises disclosed a prima facie case against him and the other accused, and prayed to court to dismiss Shivakumar’s petition.