Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 4: The Rajya Sabha leader of the House Piyush Goyal and the leader of the opposition Mallikarjun Kharge had a spar in the House over the Enforcement Directorate summoning the opposition leaders for questioning at all odd hours without bothering about their convenience. The issue was raised during the question hour on Thursday by Kharge who pointed out that he had been summoned by the ED for questioning at 12.30 P.M. ignoring the fact that Parliament was in session and he as the leader of the opposition was expected to attend the House proceedings. He also said the BJP government at the centre was merely using the central agencies like the ED only for “demoralising and intimidating” the opposition. He question whether it was fair on the part of the ED to summon him when Parliament session was on.
Raising the issue after an uproar from the Opposition over the alleged misuse of agencies by the government to target leaders, Kharge said, “This House is functioning and I am the leader of the opposition parties. But right now, I have received a summons from the ED to appear before it when a Parliament session is on. Right now, when Parliament is functioning, is it fair on the part of the ED to summon me?” Stating that he is a law-abiding member of the society and has to leave for the ED office at 12.30 pm, Kharge said, “I do not want to avoid the law and I want to follow the law” but that would mean he would have to be away from the House proceedings.
He also mentioned that the residences of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party leader Rahul Gandhi have been gheraoed by the police. “If we carry on like this, will our democracy remain alive? Will we function as per our Constitution? This is being purposely done to demoralise us, destroy us and intimidate us. But we will not be afraid or intimidated and will fight,” he said, demanding that there be a discussion on the issue in the House.
Goyal, however, responded by claiming that the present government never interfere in the functioning of law-enforcement agencies. He further said the Congress leaders should face the law and not run away from it and allow Parliament to function. Hitting back at the Congress with the same accusation, Goyal said, “They (Congress) may have been interfering in the functioning of law-enforcement agencies when they were in power…Our government does not in any manner interfere in the functioning of law-enforcement agencies and allows them to do their work. Their government used to interfere in the functioning of law-enforcement agencies. Our government has not done anything like this,” he said.
Goyal said if anyone has done any wrong, the law will take its course. “Whatever the LOP said is totally baseless. The matter has gone to the Supreme Court. The Congress leaders are on bail and the Congress leaders and the LOP should follow the law instead of running away,” he added. Goyal also appealed to the Opposition members to allow the House to function. “They should not insult the chair,” he said as the Opposition members kept raising slogans in the Well of the House while the chair continued with the Question Hour amid the din.
Jairam Ramesh, the Congress’s chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, also alleged that “Modishahi” is reaching a new low as Kharge was summoned by the ED in the middle of a Parliament session. “Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, was summoned by the ED when Parliament was in session. He, of course, left around 12:20 pm and presented himself. This is Modishahi reaching new lows,” the former union minister tweeted.
Meanwhile, the ED on Thursday also issued summons to Varsha Raut, the wife of the arrested Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, on money-laundering charges in an alleged scam in a housing project, it is learnt. This came just hours after Sanjay Raut’s ED custody was extended till August 8 by a special court in Mumbai. The date for which Varsha Raut been summoned wasn’t immediately known.
Varsha Raut has repeatedly been named by the central probe agency but she hasn’t been questioned so far. Four months ago in April, the ED — which alleges a Rs 1,000-crore scam in the redevelopment of Patra Chawl in Mumbai’s Goregaon — had attached ₹ 11 crore worth of assets of Varsha Raut and two of Sanjay Raut’s associates.
These included a flat in Dadar held by Varsha Raut, besides eight plots in Alibaug that she held jointly with Swapna Patkar. Wife of Sujit Patkar, a “close associate” of Sanjay Raut, Swapna Patkar is now a witness in the case. She allegedly got a “rape and murder threat” last month but Sanjay Raut has denied any link with it.
Hours before summons were issued to his wife, Sanjay Raut had complained about the room he had been kept by the ED during the current custody. He claimed that he was kept in a room that had no windows and ventilation.
Raut told this to special court judge M G Deshpande, designated to hear matters related to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), on Thursday. The court extended his ED custody till August 8. The ED had arrested the Sena MP on Sunday midnight in connection with the alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of ‘Patra’ chawl On Monday, the court had remanded him in ED custody till August 4. At the end of his remand, the agency on Thursday produced him in the special court, which extended his ED custody.
During the hearing, when the court asked Raut if he had any complaint against the ED, he said there was nothing in particular. However, he added that the room where he has been kept has no window and ventilation.
The court then sought an explanation from the probe agency.
Special public prosecutor Hiten Venegaokar, who appeared on behalf of the ED, said Raut was kept in an AC room and hence there was no window. Raut later said although the AC system is in place there, he cannot use it due to his health condition. The ED then assured the court that he would be kept in a room with proper ventilation.
On Monday, the ED had told the court that Raut and his family received “proceeds of crime” worth over Rs one crore generated out of alleged irregularities in the housing redevelopment project.
Raut, who is in former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena camp, has denied any wrongdoing and alleged he is being targeted due to political vendetta.