SC to hear 14 Oppn parties’ plea over ED, CBI ‘misuse’ on April 5 | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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SC to hear 14 Oppn parties’ plea over ED, CBI ‘misuse’ on April 5

ByUtkarsh An
Mar 25, 2023 04:39 AM IST

Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud set down the petition for hearing on April 5 following a request made by senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who clarified that the guidelines were being sought for all the citizens alike and not only for political persons.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on April 5 a petition filed jointly by 14 Opposition parties, led by the Congress, complaining against arbitrary arrests of Opposition leaders by the federal agencies, particularly the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and demanding a fresh set of guidelines governing the arrest, remand, and bail.

According to the Opposition parties, the cumulative effect of this unfair and non-uniform application of the law by investigative agencies of the central government is destroying a functional democracy that forms part of basic structure. (PTI)
According to the Opposition parties, the cumulative effect of this unfair and non-uniform application of the law by investigative agencies of the central government is destroying a functional democracy that forms part of basic structure. (PTI)

Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud set down the petition for hearing on April 5 following a request made by senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who clarified that the guidelines were being sought for all the citizens alike and not only for political persons.

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“Fourteen political parties, representing 42% spectrum, are before this honourable court. They are saying that democracy is in peril. We are not trying to affect the existing investigations. But there are some grim numbers. 95% of cases are against the Opposition leaders. We are asking for pre-arrest guidelines and post-arrest guidelines,” Singhvi submitted.

The CJI, on his part, said that the matter will be listed on April 5.

Apart from the Congress, the petitioners before the court included the Aam Aadmi Party, All India Trinamool Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), CPI (M), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party, CPI, and National Conference.

A BJP representative said, “ Although the matter is with the SC now, still I would like to say that whenever the ED and CBI are taking action, people are getting jailed and that is completed after the court finds them guilty. And then during the investigation by the central agencies, such shocking facts are emerging, money is being recovered and on the basis of that the court also cannot give them bail.”

“There must be some substance to the seriousness of the crime that such things are happening for example take the excise policy case into consideration, remember the sting operation video that was released was it fake? There is no denying,” the representative said, seeking anonymity.

This may be the second time when a group of political parties has come together to move a petition before the top court. In 2019, around two dozen Opposition parties approached the Supreme Court demanding the random verification of at least 50% Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) using Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in every assembly segment or constituency. At that time, the court directed the election commission to raise the VVPAT-EVM verification from one to five in each assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency (from 0.44% to 2%) but rejected the plea to match the counts to 50%.

In the petition filed on March 23, the Opposition parties claimed that a situation of “undeclared emergency” is prevailing within the country under the present government, with incidents of wanton arrest of both Opposition political figures and ordinary citizens recording an alarming rise.

The plea maintained that a clear pattern has emerged of using investigative agencies, particularly CBI and ED, to target and crush the entire political opposition and other vocal citizens, and to jail them for long periods by invoking draconian laws such as the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The petition cited examples of Congress leader P Chidambaram, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, TMC leaders Madan Mitra and Firhad Hakim, and NCP leader Nawab Malik to argue that senior political figures belonging to the Opposition have been arrested and made to suffer prolonged detention.

“In stark contrast, political figures who have crossed over politically to the side of the ruling party at the Centre have mysteriously been given ‘clean chits’ or have seen investigative agencies go slow in proceedings against them,” added the petition, citing BJP leader and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was earlier with Congress and corruption charges were levelled against him at that time.

Another pernicious pattern, the plea contended, has emerged that the moment an accused obtains bail in a CBI case, they are arrested by the ED to ensure the maximum possible custody for the political opponents of the government.

The petition added that between 2004-2014, ED probed 26 political leaders, of whom 14 were from the Opposition (around 53%).

“Whereas from 2014 onwards, of the 121 political leaders under investigation, 115 (over 95%) have been from the Opposition...Between 2004-2014, CBI investigated 72 political leaders, out of whom 43 were from the Opposition (under 60%). Post-2014, of the 124 political leaders investigated by CBI, 118 have been from the Opposition (over 95%),” said the plea, claiming there has bene exponential rise in ED and CBI cases against the Opposition leaders since 2014 when the BJP-led NDA came to power.

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The petitioners further stated: “Moreover, between 2005 to 2014, 104 complaints were filed pursuant to a total of 112 raids carried out by the ED (93% rate of action on raids). Surprisingly, from 2014 to 2022, over 3000 raids were conducted which led to only 888 complaints (29% rate of action on a raid), demonstrating the use of frivolous raids as a tool of harassment post-2014.”

According to the Opposition parties, the cumulative effect of this unfair and non-uniform application of the law by investigative agencies of the central government is destroying a functional democracy that forms part of basic structure.

Thus, the petition requested the top court to direct that no person shall be arrested in a case punishable with more than 7 years imprisonment but not involving physical injuries if he or she is not a flight risk or there is evidence to show that he can influence witnesses or tamper with evidence (‘triple test’). If an arrest is made or a court remands a person to police custody, specific reasons must be recorded, failing which the accused should be entitled to release, it added.

The parties also emphasised that the courts must follow the jurisprudential rule of “bail, not jail” in such cases unless the accused fails one of the yardsticks of the ‘triple test’. “This Hon’ble Court declare that, in case of non-violent offences including under special laws, if upon filing of charge sheet, it appears to the court that trial is not likely to be completed within 6 (six) months, then the accused should ordinarily be released on bail, thereby harmonising the rights of the accused under Article 21 with the need for fair trial,” the petition added.

BJP’s national spokesperson Anil Baluni while issuing his response over the same said, “This matter is now sub judice and the government will respond on this only during the April 5 hearing.”

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