The Congress on Thursday petitioned the Election Commission of India about “politically motivated” raids after the Enforcement Directorate searched the premises of a relative of chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi in poll-bound Punjab on Tuesday.

Flagging the commission’s “restraining” directive issued after similar raids during the course of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress memorandum said the ECI “must enforce what it commands”, urging it to intervene and exercise its power under Article 324 of the Constitution and address the matter by taking stern action against ED officials conducting such “illegal and malafide raids and the consequent game to malign and defame”.

On the day of the raid at premises linked to Channi’s relative, the Congress had come out all guns blazing in his defence, alleging that the ED action was an effort to target the country’s only Dalit chief minister.

It is also seeing the raid as an effort by the Modi government to discredit Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at whose insistence Channi was brought in to replace Amarinder Singh.

The memorandum details the timeline of the case in which Channi’s relative’s house was raided and questions the timing of the action given that the case was filed in March 2018 and the chargesheet in January 2019.

“It must be pointed out that no one from Sardar Charanjit Singh Channi’s family members or relatives or connected with him was named or arrayed as accused in the FIR,” the Congress told the EC. According to the Congress, no member of Channi’s family was mentioned in the chargesheet either.

The raid was conducted at the premises of Bhupinder Singh Honey, the son of Channi’s sister-in-law, who is an acquaintance of Kudrat Deep, an accused in the FIR registered in 2018. The Congress contends that Deep had been discharged at the charge stage.

“The case sought to be built up by the investigative agency is deliberately contrived and self-serving and designed to serve the interest of the BJP and its allies, who are becoming irrelevant in the political landscape of Punjab. It is also a blatant and audacious abuse of state machinery by the government of India, which categorically falls under the offence of ‘undue influence’ as provided in the Representation of People Act, 1951, and the Indian Penal Code, 1860,” the Congress said.

Of the view that the timing of the raid so close to the Assembly elections proves malice, the Congress said Channi was being targeted to create a perception and influence electors into believing he, through his family members and the Congress, was involved in the allegations of money laundering.

Press club ‘coercion’

Srinagar: The Press Club of India (PCI) on Thursday termed the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s cancellation of the Kashmir Press Club’s registration and takeover of its premises as “illegal” and said such “coercive action” against journalists would adversely affect the image of the Union Territory.

In a letter to lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, the PCI accused his administration of violating the basic constitutional rights of local journalists and sought his “urgent intervention” in restoring the registration and land.

It also urged the LG to ensure that the club is allowed to hold free and fair elections.

Muzaffar Raina