Maharashtra: Anil Deshmukh skips ED summons for 4th time in money laundering case, says brute abuse of power
Deshmukh wrote to ED that he will be appearing after directions from the Supreme Court and today he is sending his lawyer for representation before the ED.
FollowMumbai: Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday skipped the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the fourth time and replied to the summons in connection with a money laundering case probe and said that he is shocked.
He also accused the ED of “brute abuse of power and authority” in conducting a fair investigation.
Deshmukh wrote to ED that he will be appearing after directions from the Supreme Court and today he is sending his lawyer for representation before the ED.
“With regard to the subject summons, at the outset, I may express my grave dismay, shock and concern especially to the timing of the issuance thereof. As you are well aware as a contesting respondent that the entire investigations being carried out by your office has been challenged by me before the Hon'ble Supreme Court,” said Deshmukh in his response on Monday.
ED had issued the summons the same day the Supreme Court adjourned Anil Deshmukh’s plea, which sought protection from any coercive action by the ED in the criminal case registered under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The court had said it would hear Deshmukh’s petition on August 3. Deshmukh mentioned that in the writ petition, he vehemently urged that “the very commencement and continuation of the investigations by the ED are not only actuated with malice both in law as well as fact, but also the same stand vitiated on account of grave violation of the procedure established by law”.
On July 18, ED officials had carried out searches at Deshmukh’s house in Katol town near Nagpur and his ancestral home at Wadvihira village near Katol. The next day, Deshmukh had issued a video statement and had informed that once the outcome of his petition in the apex court comes, he would himself visit the ED and would get his statement recorded.
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