The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition challenging the legality of the arrest of KC Veerendra, Congress MLA for Chitradurga constituency, by the Executive Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal online and offline betting.
Justice MI Arun passed the order dismissing the petition filed by RD Chaitra, wife of Mr. Veerendra. The MLA was arrested in Gangtok, Sikkim on August 23 while he was in Sikkim along with his associates on a business trip to lease a casino and was later produced before a Bengaluru Magistrate’s Court.
The motion stated that some of the criminal cases registered by the state police for illegal betting as early as 2015, 2016 and 2022, which did not exist at present, were relied upon by the ED to initiate proceedings for alleged money laundering.
However, the court found that one First Information Report (FIR) is still outstanding despite a ‘B’ report being filed after investigation linking the accused persons to companies associated with Mr. Veerendra. The court also said that there is material with the ED which gives sufficient reason to believe that Mr. Veerendra is allegedly guilty of the offense of money laundering under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Meanwhile, the court said the rejection of the petition will not stand in the way of him approaching the relevant courts for bail.
The ED initially seized about ₹12 crore in cash (including about ₹1 trillion in foreign currency), gold jewelery worth ₹6 crore and silver weighing about 10 kg, along with four vehicles during searches conducted on August 22 at several locations in different states.
Published – 15 Oct 2025 21:03 IST
