New Delhi: Congress has alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has humiliated the Parliament and the MP in the name of questioning. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh issued a statement on Monday saying that during the Parliament session, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjan Kharge was pressurised by the ED to appear before it. Ramesh said that such an action by the investigating agency is an insult to both the Parliament and the MP. In such a situation, the Presiding Officers of both the Houses should make sure that such incidents do not recur, due to which any MP has to be humiliated.
Ramesh said Kharge had told the ED that he was busy with other programs as Parliament was in session. But Kharge was pressurised by the ED to appear. He said that when the matter was brought to the notice of the House by Kharge, the Chairman of Rajya Sabha rejected Kharge’s plea saying that criminal matters do not have parliamentary privileges. Jairam Ramesh said that Kharge is not an accused in the National Herald case, so why was he summoned by the ED? To do so is an insult to an MP, he said, the presiding officers of both the houses should also keep these things in mind.
The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge was summoned by the ED to ‘Herald House’ on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg near ITO on August 4. ED had issued summons against him asking him to be present during the raid at the office of Young Indian.