SC dismisses Opposition's plea on Centre's misuse of CBI, ED
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a petition filed by 14 opposition parties alleging misuse of Central investigation agencies by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre for political arrests. The SC said that politicians are citizens and they cannot enjoy special treatment and immunity from arrests under the law. It said that it needed "facts to lay down general principles of law."
Why does this story matter?
The opposition parties led by the Congress filed the petition last month, appealing to the apex court to "save democracy from being irreparably harmed." According to data provided by the opposition, 95% of cases currently being investigated by Central probe agencies involve opposition party leaders. Notably, cases against political leaders who switched over to the BJP have allegedly been shelved.
Can only intervene in individual cases: SC
A division bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala said, "You come with specific cases, we will deal with it. We cannot lay down law in the abstract on basis of certain statistics." It dismissed the Opposition's plea, saying that it can only intervene in individual cases and cannot issue general directives without a factual context.
Plea sought guidelines for arrest, remand, and bail
The petitioners' counsel, advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, withdrew the petition after failing to persuade the court. Previously, he urged the SC to issue proper guidelines for arrest, remand, and bail under the "triple test," claiming that probe agencies were increasingly being used for targeted arrests. The triple test determines an accused's flight risk, apprehensions of evidence tampering, and the accused's ability to influence witnesses.
95% of cases being probed by CBI are opposition leaders
Singhvi submitted that under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from 2004-2014, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigated 72 political leaders, 60% of whom were from opposition parties. However, under the current BJP government, the figure stood at 95%.
ED raids increased 27 times since 2014
In 2014-2022, the raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) soared around 27 times to 3,010 as compared to just 112 in 2004-14, the Rajya Sabha was informed last year. While the ED filed chargesheets in 888 cases, only 23 were convicted under the PMLA.
Which parties were among the petitioners?
Apart from Congress, the petitioners included Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Janata Dal (United), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Jammu & Kashmir National Conference.
