According to sources, a fourth summons was issued against Shivakumar by a special court dealing with economic offences here yesterday.
The Karnataka government would stand by Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar, against whom a fourth summons has been issued by a court in connection with alleged tax evasion, if he has not done anything illegal, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Wednesday.
"If things are legal, we will stand by(Shivakumar). ...let there be no doubts on that," Kumaraswamy said in response to a question whether the government would stand by Shivakumar.
Asked whether the Centre was indulging in"hate politics", he said "..it is going on for long now, in such matters the departments concerned should not budge to any pressure from politics of hate. They have to work in accordance with law. This is my opinion."
According to sources, a fourth summons was issued against Shivakumar by a special court dealing with economic offences in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief G Parameshwara alleged that central agencies were being misused by the Centre against Congress leaders.
Speaking to reporters in Chitradurga, he alleged that Congress workers were being targeted and ED action and IT raids have been taking place "since a year before the (state assembly)elections."
"If it is still happening, it can be said that central government is misusing those agencies," he said.
A senior Income Tax (I.T) official confirmed that the fourth summons was issued against Shivakumar by the special court dealing with economic offences.
"Court has issued the summons. One more complaint has been filed. Last time there were three. The case is same.
The only thing is different years are involved. The case pertains to tax evasion," said the official speaking on condition of anonymity.
Sources in the Income Tax department said along with Shivakumar, case has been registered against his associates Sachin Narayan, Sunil Kumar Sharma, Anjaneya, Hanumanthaiah and Rajendra.
These summons pertains to the raids carried out last year.
When raids were carried out at the residences of Sunil Kumar and Anjaneya, some cash and documents were allegedly seized. In this connection, the I-T department had issued notices to them seeking explanation.
However, their explanation was unsatisfactory, I-T sources said.
Shivakumar told PTI that he has not yet received the summons.
Asked about the reasons behind the raids and summons, Shivakumar said, "What can be said? Already three cases were registered. After the (assembly) election, this one has also been done..."
Shivakumar said the I-T department officials were "not letting him breathe."
To a question whether it was politics of vendetta, he said it was left to the media to present it the way they like.
"You write whichever way you like. Assess it. They are not letting me breathe. I don't know why only me," he said.
Later, speaking to the media, he warned those trying to "fix" him, saying he too has enough "evidence and documents" against his rivals.
"Don't be under the impression that I don't have any documents. I too have similar diaries with me. I will wait till the end and finally I will release them at an appropriate time," he said but did not elaborate.
Reacting to BJP's demand for his resignation in the wake of raids, Shivakumar questioned their "moral right" when many of their leaders were allegedly involved in multiple cases.
Shivakumar was instrumental in ensuring the safe stay of Gujarat Congress MLAs in a Karnataka resort during the Rajya Sabha elections last year amid allegations that the BJP was trying to poach them.
He was also the key man who oversaw the operation to keep the Congress MLAs together against alleged poaching attempts by the BJP after the recent assembly polls.
BJP had emerged as the single largest party and was trying to shore up numbers but lost the game with B S Yeddyurappa quitting without taking the floor test.I Last month, the CBI had raided residences and an office of some persons linked to Shivakumar at five places in Bengaluru, Kanakapura and Ramanagara on charges of illegally exchanging demonetised currency notes.
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