Congress cries foul after SC upholds ED's power to arrest; 'will approach court again'

Congress was faced with another setback on Wednesday after the Supreme Court upheld the powers of the Enforcement Directorate to make arrests under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). 

Presently, several senior Congress leaders are facing money laundering cases, including party president Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi, and former finance minister P Chidambaram. The SC verdict comes at a juncture when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is questioning Sonia Gandhi in connection with the National Herald case. 

As the third round of questioning commenced today, Congress MPs marched from Vijay Chowk to the President's House in protest against the "misuse of agencies", before being detained by the Delhi Police.

Reacting to Supreme Court's ruling on the PMLA Act, senior Congress leader Harish Rawat said, "This is not the final verdict. If needed, we will approach the apex court once again. We will continue out Satyagraha against misuse of agencies to harras Opposition leaders."

Condemning the ED action against Sonia Gandhi, former union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said, "We are not against the PMLA. The Act came to force during the UPA government. But we oppose the misuse of PMLA. Today the Act is being used to target opponents, which is wrong."

Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid also lashed out at the ED saying, "There is not of PMLA if it continues to be misused. We do not expect this. They are taking three days for 5 minutes of work (interrogation). This only shows their competence."

Sonia Gandhi appears before ED in National Herald case

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, on Wednesday, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for the third time in connection to the ongoing probe in the National Herald scam case. Earlier on Tuesday, she was questioned for six hours in connection with a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper.

During her second round of interrogation, Congress leaders staged massive protests across the country in the name of 'Satyagraha'. Violating Section 144 imposed in the national capital, Congress MPs were seen marching from Gandhi Statue on the Parliament premises towards Vijay Chowk. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot through a press conference alleged that the "ED has created a terror in the country".