The Delhi High Court on Thursday took strong exception to the unavailability of the lawyer representing the Enforcement Directorate to argue on the bail plea of Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar, arrested in a money laundering case.
The high court reserved its order on the plea and asked the ED to file its written submissions by 12 noon on October 19.
"You cannot play hide and seek with the court," said Justice Suresh Kait when the ED's counsel sought accommodation for 30 minutes on the ground that the law officer who would argue the case was busy in Rouse Avenue district court.
Justice Kait said the court was not supposed to wait for its lawyer to come and argue the matter.
Shivakumar, a seven-time MLA in Karnataka, was arrested by the ED on September 3 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and is lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail.
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He approached the high court challenging a trial court's order denying him bail.
The ED had in September last year registered the money laundering case against Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah—an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi—and others.
The case was based on a charge sheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the Income Tax Department against them last year before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and 'hawala' transactions worth crores.
The I-T department has accused Shivakumar and his alleged associate S K Sharma of indulging in transactions involving huge amounts of unaccounted money on a regular basis through 'hawala' channels with the help of three other accused.
(With inputs from PTI)
