New Delhi: Additional Solicitor General SV Raju on Friday made a shocking submission before the Supreme Court, stating that there was something "fishy" in a counter affidavit filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), reported The Live Law. ASG Raju made the submission while hearing a bail petition in a PMLA matter before a bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan

The law officer told the bench that the ED's counter-affidavit was "half-baked". Fe also added that it was filed without proper vetting. "There is something hanky panky as far as my department is concerned. Without consultation a half-baked affidavit in counter has been filed even before we filed an appearance for it," the ASG said as quoted by the media house.

Meanwhile, the petitioner's lawyer Meenakshi Arora called it a strategy to keep her client in jail. , "There is something fishy in the filing of the affidavit that is what I found yesterday. The affidavit was filed without being vetted by the investigatory agency, without even referring the facts to the investigating agency," ASG Raju said While responding to Arora's statement as reported by The Live Law.

The bench was also surprised by the ASG's submission. Justice Oka said that ED's counter must have been filed by its Advocate on record. However, the SG said that the Advocate on record could not be blamed as the ED prepared the affidavit. Raju also told the court that he had told the ED director to order a department inquiry to look into the matter. He also requested the bench to postpone the matter on Tuesday as he wanted to check the affidavit.

"I am sensing something fishy let me make an inquiry from my side. This type of thing should not happen in the department. The AoR is not to be blamed it has come from ED without being vetted by the proper channels," ASG submitted.

The bench did not seem convinced by the ASG's reply. "Advocate on Record for ED files the affidavit and now ED wants to say that it was filed without instructions how can we accept that?" Justice Oka asked as reported by the media house.

The bench asked the Advocate on record to appear before the court.