New Delhi, Jan 13 (PTI) The Congress and its leader PChidambaram today accused the government of "unleashingvicious vendetta" against the opposition after the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) carried out raids at the residence of theformer Union minister here in connection with its moneylaundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis case.
P Chidambaram accused the ED of misusing its power at thebehest of the government. He said he would not succumb topressure and continue to speak and write.
He spoke to reporters outside his Jorbagh residence here,hours after the ED conducted searches at 10 premises linked tohis son Karti Chidambaram in connection with the probe.
P Chidambaram termed the raids "a comedy of errors" andclaimed the officers were left "embarrassed" and "apologetic"as they could not find anything at his house.
"Since they had the search warrant, I did not object tothe search but I said I will record my protest that there isno FIR in respect of the scheduled crime...there are obviouslyno proceeds of crime and the ED has no jurisdiction under thePrevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)," he told reporters.
Later, in a statement, he said there is no predicatescheduled offence and hence the ED has no jurisdiction.
"Yet the ED, at the behest of the government, continuesto misuse its powers. Let the government misuse the ED. Ishall neither bend nor break and I shall continue to speak andwrite," P Chidambaram said.
In a separate statement, AICC in-charge of media RandeepSingh Surjewala said the raids were part of a "continuingvicious vendetta unleashed by Modi government against Congressand other opposition leaders".
He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hisgovernment were using agencies including ED and CBI as"captive puppets" to settle political scores and intimidatepolitical opponents.
"In fact, 'raid raj' has become the ‘DNA’ of the Modigovernment. We again reiterate that Congress leaders will notbe cowed down or bow in face of such malicious and wilfulattempts to browbeat and bulldoze," he said. PTI ENM GJS ACBNABGVS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.