 "Sharad Pawar")
“The disposal rate is 0.42 per cent and the conviction rate is just 0.40 per cent. The ED’s budget has gone up from Rs 300 crore in 2022 to Rs 404 crore,” the previous Union minister additional claimed | (Photo: PTI)
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led authorities was misusing companies just like the Enforcement Directorate to create worry amongst opposition leaders and referred to as the ED “supporting party” of the BJP.
Speaking to reporters in Pune, Pawar cited figures of the ED’s actions between 2005 and 2023, claiming it registered 5,806 circumstances and solely 25 of them have been disposed of.
“The disposal rate is 0.42 per cent and the conviction rate is just 0.40 per cent. The ED’s budget has gone up from Rs 300 crore in 2022 to Rs 404 crore,” the previous Union minister additional claimed.
“Between 2005 and 2023, two governments were in power, including the UPA of which we were also a part. During the UPA regime, the ED investigated 26 leaders, of whom five were from the Congress and three from the BJP. It shows that during the UPA regime ED’s action was not politically motivated, but after 2014, not a single BJP leader has been questioned,” Pawar stated.
These figures elevate a doubt if the ED’s actions beneath the BJP authorities have been politically motivated, the previous Maharashtra chief minister stated.
“It indicates that the ED has become a supporting party of the BJP,” he stated.
“BJP leaders know about the ED’s actions in advance…looks like the orders come from the BJP,” Pawar claimed.
During the UPA authorities led by Manmohan Singh, the ED was not misused, however now now the company is getting used to create worry among the many opposition leaders, he alleged.
Notably, the ED has connected belongings of a sugar mill owned by the corporate of NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, who’s the grandnephew of Sharad Pawar.
Rohit Pawar has additionally been questioned by the ED twice up to now after it searched the premises of his firm Baramati Agro Limited, Kannad Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited and a few others in January.
First Published: Mar 11 2024 | 11:54 AM IST
