New Delhi: Congress leader DK Shivakumar walked out of Tihar Jail on Wednesday evening, hours after being granted bail by the Delhi High Court on a Rs. 25-lakh bond. However, the politician — who faces allegations of money laundering — cannot leave the country, the court has ruled.
According to news agency PTI, Justice Suresh Kait granted bail to the Congress’ troubleshooter on the grounds that he is not a flight risk. The judge also said Shivakumar cannot tamper with evidence as the documents are with the investigating agencies, and there is no material to show he has influenced witnesses.
The politician was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in September and sent to Tihar Jail, where another Congress leader P Chidambaram is lodged in a separate alleged corruption case.
The investigators alleged that Shivakumar, 57, had not been paying taxes and made transactions worth crores of rupees.
Shivakumar’s 23-year-old daughter, Aisshwarya, was also questioned by the Enforcement Directorate days after he was arrested last month. The investigators said they wanted to ask her how her net worth grew from around Rs. 1 crore in 2013 to over Rs. 100 crore in 2018, and whether the financial transactions between her and her father involved unaccounted money.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her party colleague Ambika Soni went to Tihar Jail on Wednesday morning to meet with Shivakumar. His brother DK Suresh was also present during the meeting of the Congress leaders.
Suresh told reporters that Gandhi assured Shivakumar the party is with him and will stand in his support. Gandhi told him this is a case of “political vendetta” and other Congress leaders are also being targeted by the BJP government at the centre, Suresh said.
“We have to fight them and come out of this,” Suresh said, quoting the Congress president, according to news agency Press Trust of India.
Shivakumar made national headlines in 2017 when he agreed to accommodate 44 Congress legislators from Gujarat at a resort to prevent them from being poached by the BJP ahead of a crucial Rajya Sabha election.
Soon after, income tax officials came knocking on Shivakumar’s door. Several properties linked to the Congress leader were also raided in August 2017.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, who met Shivakumar in Tihar on Monday, has said Shivakumar was a target of political revenge.
