<p class="bodytext">In an apparent swipe at the Centre, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday said whoever speaks against policies or leaders of the BJP is facing action by the Central agencies, a day after it came to light that the ED had summoned Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's wife in the PMC Bank money laundering case on December 29.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking to reporters here, the senior NCP leader also said that the use of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for "political purposes" had never happened in Maharashtra.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Anybody who speaks against policies or leaders of the BJP faces the ED or the CBI. As far as the Central Bureau of Investigation is concerned, we had taken a decision that any probe by that agency in Maharashtra cannot be pursued without the permission of the state government.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"However, the rights of ordering an ED inquiry is with them (the Central government), but using these rights for the political purpose was something never seen in Maharashtra," Deshmukh said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He was replying to a query on the ED summoning the wife of Sanjay Raut for questioning.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In October this year, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government had revoked the "general consent" given to the CBI to probe cases in the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The NCP and the Congress are constituents of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Meanwhile, another senior NCP leader Praful Patel told reporters in a separate interaction that several people are now getting notices from the ED.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"....The reason (behind getting such notices) may be political or may be something else...Whatever it my be the facts will stand out. I don't want to derive any other meaning out of this action.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We don't take these things otherwise. Such things happen..action is taken...We follow the procedure," he said when asked whether the Central agencies were being misused to settle political scores.</p>
<p class="bodytext">In an apparent swipe at the Centre, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday said whoever speaks against policies or leaders of the BJP is facing action by the Central agencies, a day after it came to light that the ED had summoned Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's wife in the PMC Bank money laundering case on December 29.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking to reporters here, the senior NCP leader also said that the use of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for "political purposes" had never happened in Maharashtra.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Anybody who speaks against policies or leaders of the BJP faces the ED or the CBI. As far as the Central Bureau of Investigation is concerned, we had taken a decision that any probe by that agency in Maharashtra cannot be pursued without the permission of the state government.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"However, the rights of ordering an ED inquiry is with them (the Central government), but using these rights for the political purpose was something never seen in Maharashtra," Deshmukh said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He was replying to a query on the ED summoning the wife of Sanjay Raut for questioning.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In October this year, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government had revoked the "general consent" given to the CBI to probe cases in the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The NCP and the Congress are constituents of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Meanwhile, another senior NCP leader Praful Patel told reporters in a separate interaction that several people are now getting notices from the ED.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"....The reason (behind getting such notices) may be political or may be something else...Whatever it my be the facts will stand out. I don't want to derive any other meaning out of this action.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We don't take these things otherwise. Such things happen..action is taken...We follow the procedure," he said when asked whether the Central agencies were being misused to settle political scores.</p>