How ruling govts have used probe agencies to intimidate the Opposition

Both, the current dispensation and the UPA govt, when it was in power, have used agencies like the CBI and ED to turn the heat on their political rivals

Makeshift studios had sprung up outside the office of the enforcement directorate (ED) when Congress General Secretary for Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi, accompanied her husband Robert Vadra, who had been called in for questioning early this month. 

Vadra, son-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, has been booked by enforcement sleuths in 2008 on money-laundering charges in connection with suspected financial irregularities in land deals in Haryana. But the fresh case was followed up by searches conducted by the ED in December. 

While the ED's move once again led to protests that the Narendra Modi government was misusing law and enforcement agencies to intimidate opposition leaders, this was not the first instance when the government's investigative agencies had booked cases against opposition leaders. 

Probes under the current dispensation

Several other prominent names have been under the investigative agencies radar after the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) come to the power at the Centre in 2014. Business Standard looks at some of these recent high-profile cases. 

Former union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram have been grilled by central agencies on several occasions. While the former union minister was questioned by the ED in respect to the Foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) approval given to the Aircel-Maxis deal as well as to the INX media group, the latter has been questioned by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as well as the ED for his involvement in INX media money-laundering case. 

On February 28, 2018, Karti was arrested by CBI for allegedly accepting money to facilitate the FIPB clearance for INX Media. While he was later granted bail, the ED has attached properties worth Rs 54 crore belonging to Karti. It has also attached properties belonging to the Peter and Indrani Mukerjeas (owners of INX media) in connection to the same case.

Other than this case, Karti Chidambaram was also named in an ambulance purchase case. In its first information report filed in 2015, CBI had charged Congress leaders such as Sachin Pilot, Ashok Gehlot, and Ravi Krishna (son of former minister Vyalar Ravi). 

In the past five years, central agencies have probed state level ministers too. 

Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal has been facing corruption charges by the home ministry's anti-corruption bureau. Other MLAs of the aam admi party (AAP) such as Kapil Mishra have been also charged by the Income-tax department. 

Similarly, leaders in West Bengal and Himanchal Pradesh have been also under the scanner. For instance, CBI had arrested Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhya for his alleged involvement in the chit fund scam. This was during the demonetisation period when chief minister Mamta Banerjee had criticised the government's note ban decision. 

Similarly, Himachal Pradesh chief minister, Virbhadra Singh came under the scanner for allegedly processing assets dispropotionate to his income. Raids were conducted by the CBI in 2015. Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is also facing a probe in relation to a Gurgaon land allotment case. Another former Chief Minister and BSP president, Mayawati, is also being probed by the CBI in a multi-crore National Rural Health Mission Scam. The central agency is also investigating former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah for an alleged Rs 113-crore scam in the J&K Cricket Association. 

Of late, both CBI and ED have conducted raids on properties owned by RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's family members including the then Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav. The two have also been charged with possessing assets disproportionate to their known income. 

The National Herald corruption case was flagged by Subramanium Swamy in 2012. However, the probe was initiated in August 2014 to discover if there was any money laundering. This case has witnessed a slew of trials in both the magistrate court as well as the Supreme Court. The apex court has directed the income-tax department to re-assess the tax filing of both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Then there was the Nirav Modi-Punjab National Bank fraud which has also put some politicians under the lens. 

For instance, the Income-tax department, which is probing unexplained cash transactions of jeweler Nirav Modi, had sent a notice to Anita Singhvi, wife of congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The notice had sought an explanation for jewellery purchases worth Rs six crore from Nirav Modi. However, Singhvi has refuted the charges and termed them as harassment by the ruling political party. 

They all do it when in power

However, it has been a standard practice for successive governments in India to use law enforcement agencies for their own political gains. United progressive alliance (UPA) also had mastered the art of manipulating central agencies. During the UPA regime, some important BJP leaders were charged by CBI and other agencies. Sohrabudin Sheikh and Ishrat Jehan encounters were among the popular cases that brought BJP top leaders under the glare. CBI had charged Amit Shah, then Minister of State for Home in Gujarat, as an accused in the killing of gangster Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram Prajapati, who was said to have been an eyewitness to the encounter. Later in February 2014, the CBI booked four members of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) with murder, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy. These included former chief of the Gujarat state Intelligence Bureau, Rajinder Kumar, and three IB officials, P Mittal, M K Sinha and Rajiv Wankhede in the case. The 1,500-page chargesheet includes testimonies and eyewitness accounts of the shooting.

The CBI top brass' connections with some of the UPA top leaders also put a question mark on the integrity of the central agency. CBI former director Ranjit Sinha is alleged to have helped those being investigated in the 2G spectrum scam. The Supreme Court had issued notice to Sinha over serious allegations of meeting those accused in 2G and coal scams at their Delhi residences.