The Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena on Friday claimed there is no rule of law in the country and central agencies have turned "slaves" which was evident in the way its Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut was arrested in a money laundering case.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) mouthpiece 'Saamana', in an editorial, said there is pressure on the judiciary, and also slammed the Centre for “misusing” probe agencies to target its political opponents and asked why only Opposition leaders face arrest or are served notices.
It said Chief Ministers of Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Telangana, all political rivals of the BJP, have flagged similar concerns.
The opposition party slammed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over the "illegal" arrest of its key leader Raut, who spent more than three months in jail before securing bail.
“There is no rule of law in the country. There is pressure on the judiciary and central agencies that have turned slaves and this was evident in the Sanjay Raut case. The central government is misusing its probe agencies and a special court in Mumbai has put a seal on it," it said in reference to the bail granted to Raut by the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court.
The Marathi daily claimed seven ministers of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in Maharashtra and 15 MLA-MPs of the ruling party can be accused of involvement in money laundering, but the ED that probes such cases "chooses" its accused.
Raut was granted bail by a special court on Wednesday in the money laundering case linked to a housing project in suburban Goregaon. The special court, in its bail order, observed his arrest was "illegal and a witch-hunt”.
The editorial alleged the ED was used to topple the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra in June.
The editorial also claimed the money laundering case against former Maharashtra Home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh was "fabricated".
(Inputs from PTI)
