Karnataka High Court dismisses plea challenging ED's arrest of MLA KC Veerendra in online betting case

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition challenging the arrest of Congress MLA KC Veerendra Puppy by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an online betting case [RD Chaitra v. Directorate of Enforcement].

Justice MI Arun passed the order today on a petition filed by Veerendra's wife, RD Chaitra.

Chaitra had challenged Veerendra's arrest as illegal, arbitrary, and violative of his fundamental rights.

The Court upheld the arrest today and dismissed her plea. Justice Arun, however, clarified that the Court's observations in its judgment are confined to the petition at hand, and that if KC Veerendra files a bail application, it shall be considered independently in accordance with the law.

The Court further noted that the MLA has been discharged from certain linked cases. The Court added that if a ‘B’ report (closure report) is filed by the probe agency in the present matter as well and accepted by the trial court, Veerendra would be at liberty to file a fresh plea seeking the quashing of the proceedings against him.

The money laundering case filed by the ED against Veerendra involves allegations of a ₹2,000-crore illegal online betting and money-laundering racket.

ED has alleged that Veerendra was operating casinos in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Georgia, and had also set up online betting platforms under the names King567 and the 567 Gaming universe. The agency claimed that funds from illegal betting were laundered through mule accounts and diverted into assets like gold, real estate, and foreign trips.

Senior advocates Siddhartha Dave, HS Chandramouli, and Kiran S Javali, and Advocate Prateek Chandramouli, appeared for the petitioner.

Additional Solicitor General Aravind Kamath appeared for the Enforcement Directorate.