Weaponisation of ED not good for India's democracy: Cong after SC verdict in C'garh liquor case

Weaponisation of ED not good for India's democracy: Cong after SC verdict in C'garh liquor case

The Congress on Wednesday said the Supreme Court quashing an ED case against an ex-IAS officer and his son in the alleged liquor scam in Chhattisgarh was a vindication of its stand that probe agencies were being used to target political opponents and asserted that ''weaponisation'' of Enforcement Directorate was not good for democracy.

The party alleged that the BJP ''shamelessly peddled lies'' before the assembly polls to implicate former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel but the entire case was ''politically motivated''.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi alleged the agency's action was ''mala fide'' and against all norms of a level-playing field.

''It is clearly motivated politically and this weaponisation of ED is not good for India's democracy and independence,'' he said, adding that this ''revolving door of political vendetta is very bad for democracy''.

Singhvi said the party's stand was vindicated about its charges against the Enforcement Directorate that most of its cases against politicians were politically motivated and cited the Supreme Court quashing the ED's complaint on the so-called Chhattisgarh Liquor Scam.

If a scam as big as Rs 2,161 crore had taken place, as claimed by the ED, ''why wasn't the ED able to give any evidence of money laundering?'' he asked.

The Congress leader said that of the 15-20 per cent cases registered by the ED against various political leaders, 99 per cent were against the opposition parties only.

Singhvi pointed out that the ED had alleged that hundreds of people were involved including officials, liquor manufacturers besides politicians.

''Why not a single liquor manufacturer or excise official of Chhattisgarh was arrested by the ED,'' he asked and alleged that the probe agency's intention was obvious to malign the political opponents ahead of Chhattisgarh assembly polls.

He said the scam was alleged to have taken place in 2019-20 and asked why the ED initiated proceedings three years later, just before the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh in November 2023.

The senior Congress leader alleged the state BJP government was now misusing the Economic Offences Wing to target opposition leaders.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's use of ED, CBI and Income Tax department to ''hound'' all INDIA bloc politicians, and his use of the ''washing machine'' to purify the BJP's politicians, has ''killed'' anti-corruption movements and initiatives across the country.

''The Supreme Court revealed that the Chhattisgarh 'liquor scam' was in fact shamelessly fabricated by the ED.... There is no longer any doubt that the entire case was politically motivated,'' Ramesh said on X.

In the complaint filed before the PMLA special court, the ED had alleged that a criminal syndicate of politicians, private persons, and senior government officials had siphoned off Rs 2,161 crore by selling liquor illegally from 2019 to 2022, Ramesh said.

Former IAS officer Anil Tuteja and his son Yash were portrayed as the ''kingpins'' of this syndicate, he added.

The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the money laundering case against Tuteja and Yash, saying there were no proceeds of crime.

A bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan quashed the complaint after noting that since no ex-facie scheduled offence (main offence) exists against them, no offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was made out.

''The court proceedings reveal just how hollow the case really was: The Tutejas were not even named as the accused in the complaint. None of the alleged offences fell under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA),'' Ramesh posted.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)