BENGALURU: In a big relief for KPCC president DK Shivakumar, the Karnataka High Court on Monday upheld the orders passed by the Special Court discharging him from the cases of tax evasion and destruction of evidence.
Justice John Michael Cunha pronounced the judgement dismissing the appeals filed by the Income Tax Department against the discharge of Shivakumar from all the three cases.
The Income Tax Department had filed three criminal revision petitions against three separate orders passed by the Special Court, exclusively established to try criminal cases against MPs/MLAs in the city, in February 2019.
The Income Tax Department filed three complaints against Shivakumar for allegedly evading tax to the tune of Rs 3.14 crore, 2.56 crore and 7.08 crore for the assessment year 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively.
When a search was conducted by the Income Tax Department on August 2, 2017 at various premises, Shivakumar was at Eagleton Resort on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway, near Bidadi.
On seeing the I-T sleuths, Shivakumar allegedly tore a piece of paper and the same was treated as an attempt to destroy evidence. Later, it was found that he evaded tax.
Hearing the pleas of Shivakumar against the complaints, the Special Court discharged him from all three cases.
Challenging the same, the Income Tax department moved the High Court, filing criminal revision petitions.