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The Supreme Court has strongly reprimanded ED during the hearing of a case related to the alleged Chhattisgarh liquor scam. The court was hearing the petition of retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja.
Krishna Bihari Singh Hindustan Times, New DelhiMon, 21 Oct 2024 04:34 PM share
The Supreme Court on Monday slammed the ED over allegations of calling people at short notice and keeping them awake all night before arresting them the next day. The Supreme Court said that even terrorists and heinous criminals are not treated like this. This raises doubts about the unconstitutionality of the arrest and interrogation process being adopted by the agency.
A bench headed by Justice Abhay S Oka said – This is unforgivable. This should not happen at all. You interrogate someone overnight and take him into custody the next day. This should not happen at all. The court was hearing the plea of retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja, who was arrested by the ED in April this year in connection with the Chhattisgarh liquor scam.
Let us inform that the arrest of Anil Tuteja by ED was made within a few days of the apex court rejecting the prosecution complaint (charge sheet) based on the investigation of the Income Tax Department. Tuteja had gone to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on April 20. When he was at the ACB office for questioning in connection with the same case, he received the first summons of the ED at 12.30 pm.
In this summons of ED, he was given the timing of 12 noon to appear. After some time in the evening, a second summons was issued for him to appear. A team of ED officers took him straight from the ACB office. ED investigating officers interrogated him throughout the night and arrested him in the morning on 21 April. The Supreme Court said – This does not happen even with terrorists and dreaded criminals.
The bench (which also included Justice Augustine George Masih) said – Look how unjustly the officer has acted. We want the officials to be produced before us. Anil Tuteja has demanded interim release, calling his arrest illegal. Tuteja, a 2003 batch IAS officer, is currently in jail. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi presented arguments on behalf of Tuteja.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi said in his argument that it is surprising that this happened when the Supreme Court itself had rejected the prosecution complaint filed by the ED. Tuteja had appeared before the ACB under the protective order of the apex court. The name of that officer is R. It was Naresh who took Tuteja from the ACB office after which he was interrogated throughout the night.
The bench said- When you know that ACB is interrogating him, then why was there such a hurry. We question every day how PMLA is being complied with. Now we will take strict action against such arrests. Along with this, the Supreme Court asked the ED to file a detailed reply regarding the timing of the summons and the reasons for sending the summons to Tuteja during his stay in the ACB office. The court asked the ED to reveal the source who had informed about Tuteja’s presence in the ACB office.
