As the Supreme Court upheld certain powers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Congress on Wednesday said the judgment will have far-reaching implications for India's democracy, especially when the Governments are anchored in "political vendetta".
Top Opposition politicians, including Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi along with P Chidambaram and his son and MP Karti, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, also a TMC MP, and Delhi minister Satyendar Jain are among those under the ED's lens for alleged money laundering.
In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the judgment pronounced by the Supreme Court on the powers of the Enforcement Directorate today will have far-reaching implications for "our democracy, especially when governments are anchored in political vendetta".
"However, there is one specific aspect of the judgement I would like to address immediately; I had moved the Supreme Court on the blatant misuse of the Money Bill route by the Modi Government, on the amendments made to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The Supreme Court had issued notice on my petition on July 2nd, 2019.
This question remains unresolved in today's judgment," Ramesh said. He, however, noted that the court has agreed that they "are conscious of the fact that if that ground of challenge is to be accepted, it may go to the root of the matter and amendments effected vide Finance Act would become unconstitutional or ineffective".
The court has left these matters to be decided by a larger bench, Ramesh said, adding that this is a matter of some gratification.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also expressed disappointment and said the apex court's ruling will increase the possibility of "political misuse" of the ED by the Centre.
"The pronouncement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court on the rights of PML Act and ED is disappointing and worrying," the chief minister tweeted. "A dictatorial atmosphere has prevailed in the country for the last few years and after this decision, the possibility of political misuse of ED by the Centre will increase further," Gehlot said.