The Supreme Court on Thursday think over formulating a fair and transparent mechanism for all over India in investigation of cases involving officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and state governments to eliminate negative impact about political vendetta thwarting probes.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan sought a response and issued said “The court is not observing anything in the order but both the ED and the state government must sit together and explore the possibility of formulating a mechanism for investigation of cases fairly and transparently.”
SC statement
The Supreme Court on Thursday mulled over formulating a fair and transparent pan-India mechanism for investigation of cases involving officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and state governments to eliminate apprehensions about political vendetta thwarting probes.
A bench of Justices Kant and Viswanathan sought a response from the Tamil Nadu government in two weeks on a plea by the ED seeking transfer of the probe in the case against its officer Ankit Tiwari, arrested by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (TNDVAC) on charges of bribery, to the CBI
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, alleged that files related to investigation against ministers were taken away by the state police.
Justice Kant asked both the Tamil Nadu government and the federal anti-money laundering agency to suggest a fair and transparent mechanism for investigation.
“We don’t want criminals in genuine cases to go scot-free amid allegations and counter allegations over investigation in our federal structure,” the bench said.
At the outset, Mehta said the ED was not supporting its officer accused of bribery but wanted a fair and proper investigation.
“This is just the starting. If this happens in different states where ED officers are posted, what will happen to this country? Your (ED) offices are there all over India. We are not saying you are vindictive or they are vindictive. But suppose in a given scenario, there is a tit-for-tat reaction. Your officers are sitting in the states. If there is a vindictive action from their side as a tit-for-tat to what they perceive as a vindictive action, what will happen to the country,” Justice Viswanathan said.
The bench asked the lawyers of both the sides to sit together and suggest a mechanism to the court as to how investigation involving interstate issues should be conducted or when there are governments of different parties at the Centre and in the state.
Thread to this Incident
As we believe, since 2014, since the NDA government has been formed at the Centre, the opposition has always been alleging that the BJP central government misuses the central agencies, be it ED, CBI, Income Tax, etc. It is used only to create a pressure and to tarnish the image of that person, as alleged by the opposition. Recently, the noose was tightened against Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, although the two main leaders of Aam Aadmi Party are already in jail and now the point of the sword is also hanging over their Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
On the other hand, during the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, many allegations were leveled against Bhupesh Baghel, who was the Chief Minister at that time. Many incidents were seen. The Chief Minister of Jharkhand has not yet been able to distance himself from this matter, where on one hand the Central Government claims that the agency is independent and is doing its own work, while on the other hand the opposition continues to accuse it. In such a situation, when this big thing has been said in the Supreme Court, it remains to be seen how much improvement it will bring.
