India

Sanjay Raut's Prison Memoir Stirs Political Storm

The book chronicles Raut’s experiences and encounters from the time he was imprisoned at Mumbai’s Arthur Jail.

Credit : Indie Journal

 

Opposition leaders Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray and others criticised the BJP-led NDA government for misusing central agencies and anti-corruption laws to target opposition and the voice of dissent, while speaking at the launch of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut’s explosive book ‘Narkatla Swarg’ (Heaven in Hell) on Friday. The book, which has already stirred controversy in the state’s political arena, chronicles Raut’s experiences and encounters from the time he was imprisoned at Mumbai’s Arthur Jail. Raut was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in August 2022, over the allegations of money laundering in the Patra Chawl land development case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2022.

“The ED dragged Sanjay Raut in a case wherein he was not at all involved. This book is a great account of how power is being misused. It shows how the agencies function now,” said NCP(SP) Supremo Sharad Pawar.

 

Book stirs controversy

Earlier, speaking about his book, Raut said that while he wrote 80 percent of his book in the prison, he took another two years after getting out of the prison to complete the rest of the book. 

 

 

“This book is political. Those who want to work while in the opposition must read this book. This book is not for those who only seek power,” Raut said.

Along with Thackeray and Pawar, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale, renowned writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar and several leaders from the Maha Vikas Aghadi including NCP (SP)’s Jayant Pawar, Anil Deshmukh, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Aditya Thackeray, Anil Parab, were present at the event.

Raut’s book, which has made several explosive allegations, has come under fire from the ruling party. In his book, Raut has claimed that Sharad Pawar helped PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah avoid legal action after the 2002 Gujarat riots. He also said that Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray helped Amit Shah when his arrest was imminent in the same case. He has also written a chapter about the arrest of Jharkhand’s independent journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh, who has been jailed since July 2022 under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

 

 

The book has been met with jibes and criticism from BJP leaders over its explosive content. However, while speaking at the book launch, Pawar questioned how did the people in power know what's in the book without even reading it.

Raut as well as the other dignitaries also mentioned several other opposition leaders like Saket Gokhale, Anil Deshmukh, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, who faced action under PMLA.

 

The use of PMLA

Pawar was part of India’s Union Government when the PMLA was enacted. Speaking at the book launch, Pawar shared that he had tried to warn the then UPA-led government of the potential dangers of this Act.

“It was P Chimdambaram who had proposed to the cabinet an amendment to the PMLA. I had informed the then prime minister Manmohan Singh that this proposal is very dangerous, we shouldn't do that. If we lose power, it might be used against us. And then, we lost power and the first person who was arrested using PMLA was P Chidambaram himself,” Pawar said.

He was speaking of a provision under the PMLA, which puts the onus of proving innocence on the accused in order to even get bail, instead of the investigating agency having to prove his crime. The Supreme Court, last year, took note of this provision multiple times, criticising it.

 

 

 

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale, who was also arrested under the PMLA in Gujarat, was present at the book launch. He also drew attention to this provision of the Act.

“This law used to break parties, people. ED is being used for that. Our judiciary has failed completely, that's why this is happening. The judiciary is responsible for overseeing that the government functions properly. But when your cases don't see the light of the day, the government does not fear anyone. It’s people like Sanjay Raut who instill that fear back in the government,” Gokhale said.

Pawar also pointed out how the UPA and the NDA governments used this law. He said that while the UPA government had evoked this law for a probe against nine people, there were no arrests made. However, he said that the NDA government has used this act against 19 leaders from different opposition parties and arrested most of them.

 

 

Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief and former CM Uddhav Thackeray also alleged that the Centre has been using agencies to intimidate the state governments.

“When I was the CM, Maharashtra’s Director General of Police (DG) and Chief Secretary (CS) were called by the CBI. Mamata Banerjee [West Bengal CM] also faced the same thing, her CS then resigned. If these people hold the strings of people using government agencies, how are we supposed to rule?” Thackeray questioned.

He also demanded that the states should also be allowed to force acts like PMLA. “Our country is a union of states. The states have just as much rights as the Centre, as they should. The states should also be allowed to use the ED, the Income Tax department, the CBI, the PMLA. Let's put those found accused in the Central Government behind bars and ask them to prove that they are innocent,” Thackeray said.

 

 

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