homeindia NewsSenior advocate Dave: ED's abuse of power creating fearful atmosphere, backs call for reining in
Senior advocate Dave: ED's abuse of power creating fearful atmosphere, backs call for reining in
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave calls on CJI to review SC’s “worst judgment” that granted nod to ED’s powers. He backed Salve’s comments saying that earlier ED was targeting politicians, and now the focus had shifted to business community.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave in a scathing attack on the Enforcement Directorate (ED), cautioned that the business community was reeling under a “fearful atmosphere” created by “abuse of power”.
Dushyant Dave spoke about arguments made by Harish Salve in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case, in an exclusive to CNBC-TV18. Harish Salve appearing on behalf of Gurugram based real estate company M3M’s directors, pleaded before the Supreme Court (SC) that the ED had been given drastic powers, and that if not reined in, no one will be safe in the country.
Dushyant Dave backed Salve’s comments saying that earlier ED was targeting politicians, and now the focus had shifted to business community. He said that the people in the business community were scared and worried.
“We don’t need such a scary atmosphere. Our entrepreneurs are extraordinarily good in taking this country forward. We don’t want a situation where the business community feels pressured unnecessarily, avoidably. Without their growth, this country can’t grow,” Dave added.
He also noted that the number of ED cases had grown manifold and was “completely unchecked by executive bosses”.
Also, he lashed out at the judiciary and slammed the SC’s PMLA judgment of July 2022 as “one of the darkest chapters in the history of SC”. He termed it as “one of the worst judgments” since independence.
In July 2022, a bench headed by Justice Khanwilkar had approved the sweeping powers available to the ED under the PMLA. The very next month, SC decided to review the judgment and noted that parts of the order needed a reassessment.
Dushyant Dave highlighted how the SC judgment turned criminal jurisprudence on its head by placing the burden of proof on the accused. He also criticised the SC ruling for not allowing a copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) (equivalent of an FIR) to the accused and not allowing the accused to mount an appropriate legal defence.
In conversation with CNBC-TV18, Dave issued an appeal to the CJI to recall the PMLA judgment, on an urgent basis. He stated that the SC must stay the judgment, in defence of liberty.
(Edited by : Keshav Singh Chundawat)
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