DK Shivakumar condemns ED summons against him, brother over National Herald donations: 'Torture'

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday condemned the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him and his brother pertaining to his donations to National Herald and Young India.

Speaking to reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence, he said, "ED has issued summons for donating to National Herald and Young India. ED is torturing us. It is not correct, and I condemn it."

Replying to questions on ED summons, Shivakumar said, "We have been cooperating with the investigation from the beginning, and there is nothing to hide. I don't understand why ED has chargesheeted us. There was no need to register a police complaint in this case. We will fight this legally in the court of law."

The Deputy CM said that the Delhi police have instructed him and his brother, DK Suresh, to provide information by December 19, ANI reported.

"ED has issued a summons to me and my brother, DK Suresh. We had replied to the summons some time back. It is shocking that they have issued the summons once again. The Delhi police have instructed us to provide information by December 19," he informed.

Shivakumar said that the only objective was to "torture" supporters of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

"We are paying our taxes, and we are free to give our money to anyone we want. They had even registered a PMLA case in order to torture us. What happened after that? The only objective seems to be to torture supporters of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and create confusion," he said.

The Deputy CM said that he donated money to the National Herald and Young India when both Congress organisations were in difficult times as a Congressman.

"National Herald and Young India are the Congress party's organisations. We are Congressmen, and hence we had donated money from our Trusts when these organisations were in difficult times. Many other people also helped during that time," he explained.

"The notice was issued on Friday. My brother had donated some money when he was the MP. We will go through the notice and take necessary legal steps," he added.