The Supreme Court ordered the deletion of advocate Bansuri Swaraj’s name from its order granting bail to AAP leader Sanjay Singh after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said her name got added to its appearance list due to an “inadvertent error”.
Advocate Zoheb Hussain, appearing for the ED on April 3, said Ms. Swaraj did not appear in the case, nor does she represent the agency.
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The development drew a sharp response from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which accused the BJP of “misusing” Central probe agencies.
Ms. Swaraj is the BJP candidate from the New Delhi seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha poll.
Political row
AAP’s New Delhi candidate, Somnath Bharti, questioned how a BJP Lok Sabha candidate could represent the ED in the case against Mr. Singh. He alleged that the ED, CBI and the Election Commission have become “political units” of the party.
“It has been proven that the ED is the BJP and the BJP is the ED,” he said.
“If such a person [Ms. Swaraj] represented the ED against an AAP leader in court, it would prove that the BJP is misusing the ED for its political gains. The agency is working like a political wing of the BJP,” Mr. Bharti said.
‘Frivolous charge’
Responding to the allegations levelled by the AAP leader, Delhi BJP spokesperson Amit Tiwari accused Mr. Bharti of indulging in “frivolous issues”. “He makes personal allegations against the BJP candidate to remain in the news,” he said.
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He added that Ms. Swaraj is an advocate by profession and has been on the panel of several government organisations. “However, after her candidature was announced for the Lok Sabha election, she submitted her resignation on March 8 from government panels,” he said.
