New Delhi: After actor Shah Rukh Khan being grilled by ED on Diwali-eve, Congress wondered whether the superstar has faced the wrath of the authorities for speaking up on the issue of intolerance.
"A noted filmstar like Shah Rukh Khan is grilled for four hours... Whether he is facing wrath for speaking out or whether something wrong has been done by him," chief spokesperson of Congress Randeep Surjewala said.
He said that suspicions on this score arose as the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI have nowadays become "instruments of vendetta".
Citing an instance, Surjewala alleged that Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who is the senior most Chief Minister in the country, faced ED raid on the day of his daughter's marriage.
Speaking on the issue of 'rising intolerance' in country, Shah Rukh in an interview last month had said, “There is extreme intolerance, there is growing intolerance, people just put words in the air before even thinking about it. And here's a secular country…we keep talking about modern India, we keep talking about progressing, we keep talking about the new India, and we just keep talking.
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I don't think if this country is not going to be secular… the youngsters are not going to stand for it. This is the only advice I can give at 50. Intolerance religiously, not being secular in this country, it is the worst kind of crime you can do as a patriot.”
He supported the artistes who were returning their awards and said symbolically, he would return his awards too.
On Tuesday, Enforcement Directorate grilled Shah Rukh for over three hours.
ED has recorded the statement of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan in a matter of alleged irregularities in the sale of shares of Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd (KRSPL) to a Mauritius-based company.
"We recorded Khan's statement yesterday in connection with the violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act," ED sources said in Mumbai.
The case, dating back to 2008-09, pertains to the share sale of KRSPL, owned by Khan's Red Chillies along with Juhi Chawla and her husband, to a Mauritius-based company owned by Chawla's husband Jay Mehta.
ED is probing allegations that shares sold to the Jay Mehta-owned Sea Island Investments were undervalued by eight to nine times. Khan had faced ED once in 2011 when he was questioned about alleged foreign exchange violation of around Rs 100 crore.
(With inputs from PTI)
