By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Priyanka Gandhi, a severe critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is the latest political personality to be brought under the yoke of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case of, what else, money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It is for the judiciary to decide the legitimacy of the case, but there is no doubt of a political impact on the fortunes of the Congress. Even PM Modi will feel the ramifications.
With Priyanka Gandhi under ED net now, all three members of the illustrious Gandhi family – the other being brother Rahul Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi – have felt the PMLA noose, under which they could be arrested if the prosecution would deem it proper.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is also under ED net as by virtue of being AICC president, he runs National Herald, whose property has been attached by the ED under the PMLA. Don’t forget PM Modi has been shouting “Congress-Mukt Bharat” for the last 10 years, and his speeches at election rallies, as recently as in November 2023, make it clear that the Congress and the Gandhi family, Rahul Gandhi in particular, are the Prime Minister’s No.1 political adversaries.
The PM Modi-led government loves PMLA, as evidenced by the number of leaders of opposition political parties targeted by the law. Some time back, it was submitted in the Supreme Court that 95 percent cases registered since 2014, when PM Modi came to power, against opposition leaders were under this law. The ED-CBI registered nearly 125 cases against influential political leaders out of which 118 were from opposition political parties.
A few for consideration: one, only 2.1 percent of cases registered by ED under PMLA were disposed of in the last 21 years. Two, the ED is not under the RTI Act, hence is not liable to answer any query regarding cases. Three, trials are held up for indefinite periods even when the arrested remain behind bars, and are not even given the status of “accused” preventing them from seeking justice in a fair trial. The detenues languish in jails and are at the mercy of the government.
For example, the day when Priyanka Gandhi was reported to have been named in the ED chargesheet in a land related PMLA case, in which her husband was already named, a special court in Mumbai revealed that only 25 of the 1142 cases charge-sheeted by the ED have been disposed of in the last 21 years.
Special judge MG Deshpande cited the figure from data collaged by the ED in its detailed ITS order, saying that many cases under the PMLA have been pending and trials held up even though the accused are behind bars as undertrial prisoners. “Even if statistics of disposal of cases available on the official website of ED is considered as it is, in the last 21 years, out of 1,142 cases, hardly 25 cases could be disposed of, indicating that the per year ratio is 1 case per year in all over India,” the court said.
The Special Judge has also referred to delays caused due to non-compliance of a section under the Act. Cases under PMLA proceed at a very slow speed, and “This is the situation all over India and the same is reflected in the official website of the Enforcement Directorate. This data is published till 31.01.2023,” the court said.
This situation clearly indicates that the Modi-led government and the ED have little interest in taking the PMLA cases to logical conclusions. There must be some ulterior motive, best known to government officials and leadership.
Opposition leaders across political parties have been alleging that PM Narendra Modi has been misusing the ED and PMLA. “ED targeting leaders of almost all political parties in opposition,” said top lawyer and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal. “ED and denial of bail to leaders has become a political weapon in the hands of the government. It is time courts woke up.” Send them to jail, proof can come later seems to be the Union government’s motto.
The AAP has been alleging for a long time that its leaders were hunted by the Modi government using the ED. Summons have been issued to Arvind Kejriwal. Three AAP leaders are already in jail under PMLA. Many opposition leaders across the country and across the parties, are facing PMLA cases. TMC and AAP have accused the Modi government of “conspiring to arrest opposition leaders before 2024 polls.”
For example West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. “Before next year’s elections, they are trying to gag the voice of opposition parties. They are planning to arrest all opposition leaders before the polls so that they can vote for themselves in an empty country. They are hatching a conspiracy.”
And AAP leader Raghav Chadha: “Now after the formation of the INDIA alliance, the BJP is rattled. We have learned from sources that they have hatched a plan to target top leaders from the INDIA Bloc.”
Amidst allegations and counter-allegations – PM Modi vowed to take action against the “pack of corrupts” and the Opposition’s allegation of PM Modi’s political conspiracy against them – people of the country need credible answers. The very low rate of conviction under PMLA shows that the majority of the cases against opposition leaders do not have credible proof. It seems to be just a mechanism to deny the level playing field to opposition leaders by showing them as corrupt and disturbing them during their election campaigns. (IPA Service)
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