The Congress on July 11 said the Supreme Court verdict holding that two extensions given to Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra as “illegal” was a vindication of the party’s stand and a “slap on the government’s face”.
Party general secretary Randeep Surjewala, who had filed one of the petitions in the Supreme Court, said the government must apologise for the “unabashed misuse of the ED Director’s office to fulfil its malicious political objectives.”
“This is a serious and historic indictment of the Modi Government, which was so desperate to have its choice of ED Chief (for reasons apparent to all) that it completely disregarded all norms of justice, equity and fairness to install its ‘yes man’,” Mr. Surjewala tweeted.
“This is a victory of justice and vindication of our stand on brazen misuse and compromise of the ED for political vendetta as also the blatant pursuit of Modi government’s desperate and obvious agenda,” he added.
Mr. Surjewala said in view of the observation of the court, all actions taken by the ED after November 17, 2021 automatically became illegal, null and void.
“Thus, we demand that an independent investigation (independent of influence and pressure of Modi government) be constituted to scrutinise all actions by the ED post 17.11.2021,” he tweeted, adding, “The ED, which has already faced devastating allegations to its credibility, must reject the interference of the Modi government or risk its legacy being permanently tarnished and demolished beyond retrieval”.
Mr. Surjewala said the top court needed to reconsider the decision upholding the validity of the law on the extension of tenure of ED and CBI directors.
“We had hoped that the Supreme Court would strike down the law which allows such abuses of the process to take place, but for now the court has let it stand. Nonetheless, we will continue to expose, challenge, and fight to the fullest all such attempts as the Modi government may launch to try and undermine our democracy and our institutions,” he noted.
Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal told reporters that his party had maintained from the beginning that the extension of tenure of the ED Director was “totally illegal”.
“The Congress party’s stand has been vindicated. The government has been exposed today and it is a slap on the government’s face,” Mr. Venugopal said.
