Breaking News LIVE October 16: Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman defended Enforcement Directorate on Saturday on private capital and civil societies and negated that it is being used as a political weapon. At a media briefing on her official US visit, she said, “ED is completely independent in what it does, it is an agency that follows predicate offences.” Answering to question on the ED and IT Department have been used to go after sections of private capital and civil societies, she said, “The first offence is already picked up by any other agency, whether it is CBI or some other agency and it is forced that ED comes into the picture. ED does not appear at first instance. There are instances which are so standing out and if ED goes there, it is because of some prima facie evidence in their hands and some of them have been covered by media – the quantum of money seized, gold and jewellery seized. They have to act.”
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