Bengaluru Court Grants Bail To Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra In Online Betting Case

On 30 December, a Bengaluru court granted bail to Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra, who had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with alleged online betting, gambling, and casino-related offences.

The order was passed by the Special Court for People's Representatives in Bengaluru, presided over by Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhatt. Veerendra, a sitting MLA from the Challakere constituency in Karnataka, had been in judicial custody following his arrest by the ED earlier this year.

Veerendra was taken into custody on 23 August 2025 in Gangtok, Sikkim, following an extensive investigation into alleged online and offline betting operations involving purported illegal money transfers exceeding ₹2,000 crore.

The ED alleged that the MLA had links with betting platforms, including applications such as “King567”, which were allegedly used to launder funds through a network of accounts and shell entities. Searches conducted across multiple locations reportedly resulted in the seizure of cash, foreign currency, and gold.

Opposing the prosecution's case, counsel for Veerendra argued that the alleged proceeds of crime were limited to ₹30,000. It was contended that the ED could not assume the jurisdiction of the police by investigating an unregistered predicate offence, nor could it artificially inflate the proceeds of crime to ₹2,300 crore by treating all “player receipts” and “player payouts” as proceeds of crime. The defence further argued that the foundational facts were not established, that the case relied substantially on confessional statements, and that the twin conditions under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 were not satisfied.

Taking these submissions into account, the court granted bail to the MLA, subject to strict conditions.

Title: Directorate of Enforcement v. Sri K.C. Veerendra

Appearance: Mr. K.C. Veerendra was represented by Kiran Javali, Mayank Jain, Madhur Jain, Rajat, and Sashwat Singh.

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