National Herald case: No crime, no FIR, says Randeep Surjewala

By Dilip -

Questioning the basis of the entire process, Congress leader and former finance minister P. Chidambaram tweeted: “Will the learned spokespersons for the BJP please answer the following questions: 1. Which is the ‘scheduled offence’ under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) that has triggered an investigation by ED? 2. Which police agency has registered an FIR in respect of the scheduled offence?” He added: “3. Where is the FIR? Will you please show us a copy of the FIR? 4. Did you know that absent a scheduled offence and absent an FIR, the ED has no jurisdiction to start an investigation under PMLA?”

The Congress has maintained from Day 1 that the money-laundering case cannot be made out when no transfer of money or assets has taken place.... Congress communications chief Randeep Surjewala said: “No FIR has been registered so far because they know no crime has been committed. There was a private complaint by (MP) Subramanian Swamy. And the court has already ordered a stay on that complaint, which means even that is not in operation. Then what is the crime that has forced the ED to issue summons? The basis of summons has to be an FIR. They accuse us of giving a loan of Rs 90 crore; we accept upfront that we did give that loan. The entire investigation is illegal, driven by prejudice and political vendetta.”...

https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/national-herald-case-no-crime-no-fir-says-randeep-surjewala/cid/1870018


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