Congress leader DK Shivakumar outside ED office. (ANI Photo)The Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that the wife and mother of arrested Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar need not appear before them as of now.
The ED made the submission before Justice Brijesh Sethi, during hearing of two separate pleas by Shivakumar’s wife Usha and mother Gowramma. The women have challenged the summons issued to them by the ED in the money laundering case.
The probe agency had sought Gowramma and Usha’s presence before it on October 15 and 17 respectively. Gowramma had skipped it.
The counsel for the investigator submitted that Usha need not appear before the agency on Thursday for the reason that fresh summons will be issued against the two women and there will be a gap of at least seven working days. The court listed the matter for hearing on October 21.
Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, appearing for Gowramma, said that the ED officials summoned the woman to their office which was in violation of the law.
He said as per the provision of the CrPC, a girl below 15 years of age and a woman of over 65 years cannot be called to the police station.
“The mother (Gowramma) is 85 years old, so if the ED officials want to question her, they have to come to her house. They cannot ask her to come to their office. Considering her age, the presumption would be that she is not physically fit to do so,” said Krishnan.
The ED had arrested Shivakumar on September 3, in connection with a money laundering case filed last year following an investigation by the Income Tax Department in 2017.