The special court for economic offences granted conditional bail to Medical Education and Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar and three others in the criminal case filed by the Income Tax Department for alleged tax evasion and false tax returns. The special court judge M S Alva granted conditional bail on a bond for Rs one lakh bond and cash surety of Rs 25,000.

The other three who obtained bail are Sunil Kumar Sharma, Anjaneya Hanumanthaiah and N Rajendra.

Shivakumar was present during the pronouncement of the order on the bail application. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Prabhuling K Navadgi contended that Shivakumar had no explanation for the cash seized from apartments in New Delhi during the I-T raids in 2017. He requested the court to impose conditions to ensure that the accused do not flee the country. The counsel appearing for Shivakumar objected to this and said that the latter, being a minister, would never flee the country.

The ASG requested the court to impose conditions like restricting Shivakumar from making statements before the media about the enquiry as it would affect the investigation and fair trial.

The I-T department has pressed the charge that the Rs 8.5 crore cash seized from apartments and offices in New Delhi was directly related to Shivakumar.

The special court had taken cognisance of the complaint and issued summons to the suspects. The other suspects in the case are Shivakumar’s business associate Sachin Narayan, Sunil Kumar Sharma, proprietor of Sharma Travels, Shivakumar’s liaison officer in New Delhi Anjaneya Hanumanthaiah and retired government servant Rajendra, who presently works for Sharma.

The High Court had stayed the proceedings initiated by the I-T department against Narayan.