Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar said on Saturday that he had warned about bringing a stringent provision in the Money Prevention Act (PMLA) during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and it is now being misused on changing the government as per their apprehension.
On the occasion of the release of the Marathi book ‘Narakatala Swarg’ (heaven inside hell) written by Shiv Sena (Ubatha) MP Sanjay Raut, he said that whenever the government at the Center changes, the law will be amended.
The book is about the experiences spent in jail after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested in the alleged money laundering case. Pawar said that when the then Union Minister P Chidambaram proposed to amend the PMLA during the UPA government, in which the arrested person was burnt to prove his innocence, he warned it as a cabinet member.
The senior leader claimed, “When I read it (Chidambaram’s proposal), I told (the then Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh that it is very dangerous and we should not move forward on it … I strongly opposed it and said that if the government changes, we will also have to face the consequences. But this (advice) was not taken care of. ”
He said, ‘After changing the government, action was taken against Chidambaram and he was arrested. Power was misused. Pawar said that the current government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using the PMLA to “destroy the entire opposition”.
