New Delhi, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday that senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge was questioned by the ED in the money laundering case linked to the National Herald. The ED team was present in Ophir for around seven and a half hours. Mallikarjun Kharge said while coming out that he will not say anything about the investigation.
Earlier, Jairam Ramesh said that the ED has been interrogating Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha for hours. Mallikarjun Kharge was scheduled to host a dinner for Margaret Alva, the opposition candidate for the post of Vice President, at 7.30 pm. Later in the day, Khadge informed the Rajya Sabha that the monsoon session of the Parliament was going on, meanwhile the ED had issued a summons against him. He said that the central government is trying to intimidate the Congress party.
Mallikarjun Kharge said that I was called at 12.30 pm. I want to follow the law, but is it right to summon them during Parliament session? Is it right for the police to confiscate the residences of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi? They are doing this to scare us. We will not be afraid, we will fight.
Reacting to Khadge’s complaint, Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal said that the central government has nothing to do with this. Goyal said- the government does not interfere in the work of ED officials. Almost during his tenure, when he was in government, he was intervening. Goyal said law enforcement agencies are doing their job and taking action against whoever has done anything wrong.
The ED on Wednesday partially sealed the offices of Young India Limited at Herald House in Delhi. Young India owns Associated Journals. Mallikarjun Kharge is the official representative of the company and the sealing was to be done, as he was not there.
The ED had questioned Congress leader Khadge in April this year in connection with the money laundering probe in the National Herald case. Apart from this PMLA recorded his statement under the Act.HS1MS