Where do I have hawala money?: Karnataka Cong chief Shivakumar

Special Judge Vikas Dhull directed Shivakumar to appear on July 1, taking cognisance of a chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) through its Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana against him and others in the case.

Bengaluru(Karnataka): Karnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar, who is slated to appear before a Delhi court next week in a money laundering case, claimed on Friday that he has no 'hawala money', and the court will decide on the case. A Delhi court last month summoned him and others in a money laundering case lodged against him in 2018.

Special Judge Vikas Dhull directed Shivakumar to appear on July 1, taking cognisance of a chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) through its Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana against him and others in the case. "The ED has filed a chargesheet in the court. They had to do it in six months, but after taking years, they have filed the chargesheet now. So, I have been given summons for June 31 (July 1), I will go," Shivakumar told reporters here.

Responding to a question regarding reports about reference to hawala money linked to him in the chargesheet, he said, "Where do I have (hawala money)? Court will decide all those things." Shivakumar was arrested by the ED in the case on September 3, 2019 and was granted bail by the Delhi High Court on October 23, 2019.

The case is based on a chargesheet filed by the Income Tax Department against Shivakumar and others last year before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and 'hawala' transactions worth crores of rupees. (PTI)