SANJAY RAUT’S WIFE SKIPS ED SUMMONS, SEEKS TIME TILL 5 JAN

Mumbai: Varsha Raut, wife of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut did not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday in the PMC Bank scam case, and has sought time from the agency till 5 January.

She was summoned by the ED in the case on Tuesday, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), for allegedly receiving funds siphoned from the bank. This was the third summon that was issued as she had skipped the earlier two citing health reasons.

In a press conference held on Monday afternoon, Sanjay Raut lashed out at the BJP and accused the party of using central agencies to target his family for political vendetta. “Politics is about face-to-face conflict. Targeting women of a household is an act of cowardice,” he said.

Contending that the ED notice is part of “political vendetta” of the BJP, Raut made it clear that he was “a lawmaker, a Rajya Sabha member” and would always respect the laws despite some people holding it hostage and managing to evade action.

Meanwhile, BJP state vice-president Kirit Somaiya criticised the Rauts on the ED notice issue. “Sanjay Raut’s family is not appearing before the ED. Why are they running away?” he asked.

He said that the ED is probing transactions of crores of rupees between the PMC Bank, HDIL, the Sanjay Raut family, and Pravin Raut’s family, and asked: “What are the special relations between the two Raut families?”