Delhi HC seeks ED's response on DK Shivakumar's bail plea

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the bail application of Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar in connection with a money laundering case.

Justice Suresh Kumar Kait also sought the status report from the investigating agency and posted the matter for hearing on October 14.

Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan appeared for Shivakumar while advocate Amit Mahajan represented the agency during the proceedings today.

Shivakumar, who is currently in judicial custody in Tihar jail till October 1, had moved the High Court after the trial court rejected his bail plea. The trial court observed that he is not entitled to avail the bail at the present stage of the investigation.

The court said that the investigation is at an initial stage and the agency must get a free and fair chance to reach a logical conclusion.

The agency had, during the course of proceedings, showed a host of documents and a list of 317 alleged bank accounts belonging to the accused.

The money laundering case was registered by the ED against Shivakumar in September last year, based on a complaint filed by the Income Tax (IT) department.

The I-T department, during the initial probe, had allegedly found unaccounted and misreported wealth linked to Shivakumar.

( With inputs from ANI )