Opposition MPs protest in Parliament premises against Centre's 'misuse' of ED, CBI

New Delhi, July 01: Members of the opposition parties staged a protest on the Parliament premises on Monday against the central government's "misuse" of central agencies including the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Opposition MPs including Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress' Shashi Tharoor, KC Venugopal, Manish Tewari, K Suresh, Varsha Gaikwad, Benny Behnan, Anto Antony, Kerala Congress (M)'s Jose K Mani, Aam Aadmi Party's Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha, TMC MP Sagarika Ghosh, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi and CPI(M)'s John Brittas among others participated in the protest.

The leaders were seen carrying placards and posters that read 'Respect Opposition, Stop Intimidation!, Stop misusing agencies to silence opposition, End the rein of fear, stop ED, IT, CBI misuse, Bhaajpa mei jaao bhrashtachar ka licence pao..."

The parties of the opposition have been targeting the central government alleging misuse of the central agencies "to silence" the opposition. The arrests of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Ministers, former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, and TMC Ministers by ED and CBI in various cases invited criticism from many sectors.

Hemant Soren, who was arrested by ED in connection with an alleged land scam was released on bail on June 29 after 149 days of custody.

Arvind Kejriwal was denied bail by the Delhi High Court earlier this month and is currently in judicial custody in connection with an investigation into the alleged liquor policy scam.

With both Houses meeting today after two days, heated discussions on several issues including NEET row and new criminal laws are expected to take place.