The Enforcement Directorate claims it has been able to link Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh to a kickback given in connection with the alleged Delhi excise scam. The ED told the court that accused-turned-approver Dinesh Arora paid the amount to a close aide of Singh. Apart from the statement, the ED also claimed that it had electronic evidence to corroborate the alleged payoff.
The claims were made by the ED while arguing in court to seek Singh’s custody, which it secured for 5 days, even as it had asked for 10.
The arrest has brought AAP and BJP cadres onto the capital’s streets. Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have claimed that AAP convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will also be jailed very soon. AAP tore into the BJP, staging a massive dharna outside the saffron party’s headquarters in Delhi.
The ED action against Sanjay Singh is just a small part of a massive crackdown by the central agency over the past few years on alleged money laundering.
Several leaders from the opposition INDIA bloc have been arrested and some prosecuted. A few of them are in jail. Some have tried but failed to get the courts to quash the ED’s probe against them.
Despite getting substantial relief from the courts, almost all these politicians have claimed that they are victims of a witch hunt.
The Centre says that this isn’t the case. It claims the Enforcement Directorate isn’t shackled anymore, like it was under the Congress-led UPA, which was hamstrung by coalition compulsions. The question then arises: is the NDA more active than the UPA in policing corruption or was corruption much less in the UPA era?
Let’s look at what the hard facts tell us.
According to the Indian Express, between 2014 and 2022, the ED interrogated 121 politicians, and 95% of them were from the opposition. In comparison, the agency questioned 26 top politicians from 2004 to 2014, and 54% were from the-then opposition.
Also, as shared by the finance ministry in the Lok Sabha in March 2022, the ED carried out 112 searches in Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases between 2004 and 2014, while the figure shot up to 2,974 in the 2014-2022 period. The agency also raised 104 prosecution complaints from 2004 to 2014, which rose to 839 between 2014 and 2022.
In addition, the value of assets attached by the ED in 2004-2014 was Rs 5,346 crore, which skyrocketed to Rs 95,432 crore in 2014-2022.
Had the ED, been overwhelmingly arbitrary and filing cases on the whims of political masters to suit an agenda, a majority of the cases wouldn’t have ended in conviction.
But the hard facts tell us something very different. The finance ministry told Parliament that between 2014 and 2023, the agency had managed to secure convictions in an astounding 93% of the cases.
In fact, the CBI also has also totted up a very creditable 74% plus conviction rate in court.
The other point often missed is that the courts haven’t been too forgiving of those accused by the ED or other central agencies of corruption. A number of opposition leaders tried to have the cases against them quashed by the courts but have failed.
1) Case: Herald House
Gandhis out on bail
Status: SC refuses to quash trial
2) Case: Land for jobs
Tejashwi, Lalu, Rabri out on bail
Status: CBI has filed second charge sheet
3) Case: Delhi excise policy
Sisodia, Singh arrested
Status: Court upholds probe
4) Case: Cattle smuggling
Anubrata Mondal jailed, sacked by TMC
Status: Court refuses to stall case
5) Case: Teacher recruitment
Partha Chatterjee jailed
Status: Court denies bail
6) Case: Disproportionate assets
Satyendar Jain jailed
Status: Court denies bail
However, while the opposition’s case against the ED on the whole is not very strong, it is true that when these tainted politicians cross over into the BJP, their cases don’t go very far. This only provides more ammunition to the opposition to claim a witch hunt. Here are some more hard facts.
1) Instance: Saradha chit fund
Accused: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Joined BJP: Aug 28, 2015
Status: Supplementary charge sheet filed in the case (Sarma not named); Assam CM yet to be questioned
2) Instance: Narada sting operation
Accused: Suvendu Adhikari
Joined BJP: Dec 19, 2020
Status: Charges filed against TMC ministers in Sept 2021; Adhikari not summoned after joining BJP
3) Instance: Rs 300 cr money laundering racket
Accused: Narayan Rane
Joined BJP: Oct 15, 2019
Status: Case has gone silent
4) Instance: Syphoning Mahila Utkarsh Pratishthan Fund
Accused: Bhavana Gawali
Became part of Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena: June 2022
Status: Charge sheet names aide Khan; Gawali not summoned; case still open
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