Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday alleged that investigative agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate were working under pressure from the Centre.
“If the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department were to work impartially, no one would have a complaint,” Gehlot told journalists. “Today, they are working under pressure from the Centre.”
The chief minister said that a recent Supreme Court verdict upholding the Enforcement Directorate’s power to arrest and seize properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act was as per the law, but was nevertheless disappointing.
“We have objections to the way the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department are being misused,” Gehlot said. “Not just us, but lakhs of citizens have objections to it.” The chief minister said that the rule of law as per the Constitution should prevail in the country.
Last week, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning on three days in connection with an alleged money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper,
Congress leaders in Delhi had held protests on all three days that she was questioned. The police had detained several party leaders during the questioning and released them when the interrogation was over.
On July 21, Gehlot was among the Congress leaders who were detained.
National Herald case
The National Herald is published by Associated Journals Limited and owned by Young Indian Private Limited.
In April 2008, the paper suspended operations as it had incurred a debt of over Rs 90 crore. Bharatiya Janata Party MP Subramanian Swamy has accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi of setting up the Young Indian Private Limited firm to buy the debt using the funds from the Congress.
In his complaint before a trial court, Swamy accused the Gandhis and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate the funds. He has alleged that the Young Indian firm paid only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that the Associated Journals Limited owed to the Congress.
The Congress has claimed that there was no money exchange and only conversion of debt into equity took place to pay off dues like salaries.
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