After ‘Mrs Gandhi’ Reference in Agusta Westland Case, P Chidambaram Accuses ED Of “Surpassing Kangaroo Courts”

P Chidambaram, who is a former Union minister, took shots at the Centre Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the media on Sunday (30 December) over the “new improved system” of trying cases without evidence and pronouncing judgements, thereby “surpassing kangaroo courts”. Chidambaram tweeted saying, “If the government, ED and the media have their way, in this country, cases will be tried on TV channels,” reports The New Indian Express.

The Congress leaders’ remarks come in the aftermath of the ED telling the Delhi court that the middleman in the Augusta Westland VVIP chopper case, Christian Michel, mentioning Sonia Gandhi while being questioned by the authorities.

Chidambaram said, “Further, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Act will not apply. What the ED says will be oral evidence, any piece of paper that the ED produces will be documentary evidence and what the TV channel pronounces will be the judgment.”

The BJP and the Congress traded barbs in the aftermath of the ED’s submission, with the latter calling it a case of “BJP scriptwriters… working overtime” ahead of the upcoming elections. The BJP meanwhile, said that the “revelations” had “stunned the nation” and were all pointing towards “one family”.

Michel, who is an accused in the alleged Rs 3,600-crore AugustaWestland scam, was extradited from the UAE recently and is currently in the custody of the ED. The agency sought his custody for eight more days on Saturday(December 29) while the judge granted a week.