Former Karnataka chief minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy slammed the Enforcement Directorate for summoning Congress's troubleshooter DK Shivakumar on Ganesh Chaturthi in a money laundering case.
Bengaluru: Former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday (September 1) slammed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly refusing to allow a plea by senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar for exempting him from appearing before it on Monday (September 2) in view of Ganesha Chaturthi festival.
Kumaraswamy termed as "vindictive attitude" the ED's action in summoning Shivakumar on a festival day.
Shivakumar, a former Karnataka minister, had appeared before the ED in New Delhi on Saturday in the money laundering case filed against him and others. According to him, the ED has asked him to appear again on Monday.
Taking to Twitter, Kumaraswamy said, "Gowri Ganesha is an important festival for Hindus. Mr. @DKShivakumar had asked for a day to observe the festival. However, ED officials denied him even this. If this is not vindictive attitude, then what is? (sic).”
Shivakumar was a minister in Kumaraswamy-led Congress-JD(S) coalition government.
After a day-long questioning on Saturday, Shivakumar said ED issued summons seeking his appearance again on Monday, rejecting his request for relaxation as it was a festival day.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi on Saturday night, he had said that according to his family traditions, they offer prayers to ancestors on the day of the festival.
"We requested stating that I have to offer my respect to the elders of the family on the day of the festival. They said no and have issued me a summons to appear at 11 am (on Monday) I have happily accepted it," he had said.
On Friday, the investigating officer of the case had grilled Shivakumar for over 4 hours and recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED had asked him to appear for questioning after the Karnataka high court dismissed his plea challenging earlier summons.
Karnataka Congress on Friday had defended Shivakumar and accused BJP-led central government of "misusing" investigating agencies "to take revenge" against him.
The I-T department has accused Shivakumar and his associate SK Sharma of transporting huge amount of unaccounted cash regularly through "hawala" channels with the help of three other accused.
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.