Congress says 'law being misused' after SC upholds ED's power to arrest under PMLA

After the Supreme Court upheld the powers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Wednesday, Congress said that they are not against the law but against the 'misuse' of powers.

Speaking to Republic over the SC's verdict upholding the validity of several provisions of PMLA, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member, KC Venugopal said, "We are not going against rule of law. We are totally abiding by the laws and rules of the country. Our point is that agencies are misusing their powers for political purposes."

Reacting to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national President JP Nadda's remark on Congress' protest over ED summons to Sonia Gandhi wherein the saffron party chief accused the Congress party of protecting the Gandhi family in the name of 'Satyagraha', KC Venugopal said, "I am totally denying his arguments. You can see the pain of the common people in this country to price rise. All the eatable items have become expensive. People are very much angry with this government." 

Lambasting the BJP-led Central government, he further added, "Day one when the Parliament started, we are asking for the debate and discussions on price rise issue and other people related issues. But the government is not listening." Referring to their protests, he said, "This is one of the issues we are taking up. We are taking people’s issues."

'If necessary will again move the SC': Harish Rawat

The SC upholding the ED's right to arrest persons under the PMLA assumes significance at a juncture when many prominent politicians like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, NC's Farooq Abdullah and TMC's Partha Chaterjee are under the scanner of the Central agency.

Speaking to ANI over the SC's verdict, former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat said, "The Act was enacted by the Parliament and it is in effect for so many years. But the question is on those who are misusing the Act. This Act was there when the same ED said there is no case against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi (in the National Herald case). Our struggle is against the misuse of these institutions."

"To suppress the democracy and voice of the opposition, they are misusing these institutions that were meant for the welfare of the democracy," Harish Rawat said. Referring to the SC's verdict, he said that they will understand the context of the Court's order and if necessary they will again go to the SC.

Notably, on Wednesday, a three-judge bench led by Justices AM Khanwilkar who was hearing the pleas filed by 242 persons including Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, upheld the validity of various Sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. These include Sections 3 (definition of money laundering), 5 (attachment of property), 8(4) (taking possession of attached property), 17 (search and seizure), 18 (search of persons), 19 (powers of arrest), 24 (reverse burden of proof), 44 (offences triable by a special court) and 45 (offences being cognizable and non-bailable). 

(Image: ANI/KCVenugopalMP/Facebook)