Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday reprimanded the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning Haryana’s Congress MLA Surender Panwar for close to 14 hours and 40 minutes. The court, while observing that such actions by the agency were ‘not heroic’, called for the sensitisation of ED officers and also asked them to follow ‘reasonable time limits’ for the question.
Pawar, a Congress candidate from Sonipat in the upcoming Assembly election in Haryana, has been made an accused in a money laundering case. Pawar appeared before the ED on July 19 at 11 am and was constantly interrogated till 1:40 am the next day. The High Court noted that questioning for so long was against the dignity of a human being, as per Bar and Bench.
High Court stresses the need to start a mechanism
During the hearing, the court also stressed the need to start a mechanism for a fair probe that upholds the basic human rights that have been outlined by the United Nations, instead of making the accused face unnecessary harassment. It also asked the ED to take remedial measures and sensitise the officers that they follow some reasonable time limit while questioning the accused.
Pawar was arrested in July
Pawar was the Director of Development Strategies (India). He was arrested in July this year in a money laundering case related to illegal mining linked to the company. The court also noted that the accused has not continued as Director of DSPL since November 2013. It also stated that even if the National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed a penalty on the company in 2022, this would not mean Panwar would be made liable under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Noting that illegal mining is not classified as a scheduled offense under the act, the court observed that the individual cannot be prosecuted on this basis.
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