Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena slams ED, BJP for targeting Oppn parties

Mumbai, July 23 Shiv Sena(UBT) on Wednesday accused the Enforcement Directorate of not adhering to the "values of law and justice" and criticised the BJP for using ED as a "pawn" to further its politics.

Shiv Sena(UBT) in its mouthpiece 'Saamana' editorial claimed that misuse of agencies like ED is the "misuse" of the Indian Constitution. "The ED, which does not seem to follow the values of law and justice, has divided the corrupt people -- those who joined the BJP are saints and the businessmen and politicians in the opposition parties into robbers. Agencies like ED have been exposed many times, but the Supreme Court has caught hold of the ED by its wagging tail. Therefore, Chief Justice Gavai should be congratulated for that," said the editorial.

The trigger for Uddhav Thackeray camp to target the Central investigation agency was the Chief Justice's scathing remarks against ED -- “Don’t use court to fight your political battles.” He did not stop there and added, “Unfortunately, I have some experience in Maharashtra. Please do not force us to say something. Otherwise, we have to say something very harsh about the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Let political battles be fought among the electorate. Why are you being used for it?”

Taking a cue from CJI’s reference to ED’s actions, Thackeray camp said what happened in Maharashtra was a blow to democracy, the Constitution and the investigative agencies. The ED was openly used for political reasons. “Former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, former Minister Nawab Malik, Shiv Sena(UBT) MP Sanjay Raut were arrested through ED only for political revenge. All the cases imposed by the ED ultimately turned out to be fake. The ED made these arrests to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra. The ED threatened many MLAs and MPs, including Eknath Shinde, Pratap Sarnaik, Hasan Mushrif, Ajit Pawar, Ashok Chavan, Bhavana Gawli and forced them to join the BJP. It was the shamelessness to use the ED to topple the Thackeray government,” said the editorial.

According to the editorial, the Central investigation agencies have never been used so "shamelessly" in Indian politics. "Anil Deshmukh was charged with a money laundering case of Rs 100 crore, and the case finally came to a halt at Rs 1.25 crore. Sanjay Raut was charged with a Rs 1400 crore Patra Chawl case, and finally it was down to Rs 50 lakh. The ED suffered scars on its reputation in court. Nawab Malik was directly linked to Dawood Ibrahim in a land deal. It was not proven, and what can be said about the fact that today the same Nawab Malik is in the ruling party," said the editorial.

Stepping up attack on the ED and BJP, the Thackeray camp said the Central probe agency has been hit hard in the land case involving Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife Parvati. "The BJP did not accept that the Congress government was formed in Karnataka. Therefore, the BJP gave free rein to the ED in Karnataka. The ED has been following Congress leaders and has started activities like taking 'supari' to topple the opposition government in Karnataka, like it did in Maharashtra. The ED has targeted Chhattisgarh Congress leader and former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in the Mahadev App case. Baghel's son has been arrested. The Supreme Court has drawn attention to the fact that all these activities are continuously taking place in the case of opposition parties and the ED is being used as a pawn of the BJP in politics," alleged Thackeray camp in the editorial.

The editorial has claimed that ED officials are "not as clean as washed rice, as they have been accused of embezzling thousands of crores of rupees".

The ED officials made benami estates in Italy, London, and America, and some officials took early retirement and joined the BJP. The trusted officials of ED were appointed as agents to collect the bribes. “Despite all this, ED did not reduce its shamelessness and has continued its operations at the behest of the BJP. In Maharashtra, the people against whom ED action was required to put them in jail are now in the state cabinet and the ruling party. Ironically, the operations are being carried out still against the political opponents of the BJP and Eknath Shinde,” claimed the editorial.

"After looting Mumbai, the road department officials and the builders of Shinde camp went to London and Dubai and took rest. The ED never took action against them. The ED continued to work as a 'branch' of the Bharatiya Janata Party. They continued to behave like a gang of goons under the illusion that they would not be touched for their actions," the editorial said.

“Black marketers, black money dealers, drug dealers and their money are flowing freely in the country. The ED does not reach them. The maximum amount of money laundering was deposited in the BJP's account. The ED has never raised its voice against it, but wherever there are governments of opposition parties, the ED is active to target them. Doesn't the ED know that the maximum amount of 'money laundering' is going on in the affairs of Indian cricket today? Chief Justice Gavai made the ED stand in front of the mirror and see the reality," said the editorial.

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