By D N Singh
Enforcement Directorate over a time has become a familiar name among the people and of course, one of the most dreaded dreams for offenders among the politicians and business community.
In the ongoing probe in the National Herald Case, Rahul Gandhi, the Congress scion, has been already grilled for over 50 hours so far and the reportedly ailing interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi. On Wednesday also she is with the ED being quizzed in the above case.
Looking back at the tracks of investigations by the dreaded central agency, coming under the Ministry of Revnue of the Center, allegedly the ED has been facing the charges for taking up, raiding and questioning leaders from the opposition parties. May be so under the present NDA regime or even under past governments taking its targets on the opposition parties.
Fairly recently, the senior Congress leader P Chidambaram and the Nationalist Congress leader Praful Patel were in ED clutch and not to forget the case of the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were in ED probing. Likewise, many opposition leaders have faced the ED probe in recent times.
Although the ED has to its credit taking up high-profile cases but, records reveal they were mostly against the parties from the opposition camp. In which ED has shown a proactive pace in filing charge sheets in many old cases in pendency.
An estimate shows the ED has attached properties in a number of cases worth Rs. 58,000 and even succeeded in getting some extraditions as well.
In a highly contrasting note, it has been seen that, somewhere and somehow the ED appeared manifestly going soft on leaders from the BJP or its followers which the opposition has been describing as “selective witch hunting” .
Is ED Easing On Cases Those Pertain To BJP
There has been alleged instances when the ED has been soft-peddling on cases against whether the ones who joined the BJP with cases of criminal nature remain pending or against leaders of the BJP as well.
What happened to the cases against the accused duo in Sharda ponzi scam like Hemant Biswa Sharma and Mukul Roy. The latter enjoyed the cushion of respite after joining the BJP leaving Trinamool Congress and Sharma made his was into the BJP leaving the Congress!
However, the ED reportedly had similar records of being selective in some cases under the regime of the UPA as well. Does it mean the ED can be a means to trouble the opposition parties.
This, however, is not new. Allegations of being used as a tool to harass opposition politicians were also leveled against the ED under the UPA government.
But, seeing in an overall estimation, the conviction rate by the ED has not been encouraging or to say the least was poor. For example in 2017 the ED had to its credit of just two convictions in which the sums involved were not substantial. Whereas when it deals with cases irregularities in tune of thousands of crores of rupees, that year the amounts were as low as Rs. 3 L to Rs 5 L . An abysmally low amounts.
A money-laundering case was registered against Jagan Mohan Reddy, when his YSR Congress Party was in a tussle with the Congress in Andhra Pradesh. The ED, in its probe, based on a CBI FIR, had stated that since May 2004, when his father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was the Congress chief minister, Jagan floated a number of companies in which beneficiaries of state government decisions made investments.
In the same year came to the fore the cases like drugs deal by one West Bengal bases Allauddin who was imprisoned for 8 years and fined Rs. 2 Lakh only. In fact the NCB had seized just 30 kg opium and 550 kg of poppy husk from Allauddin. But while came to the picture the outcome was dismal as it could only reveal two immovable assets that could be valued at Rs 3 lakh only.
It needs a mention that the total number cases dealt with were quite low and which leaves a pendency of 2400 cases or trials. The ED always has the complaint that, the legal procedures cause the delay in the convictions.
Leave An Ailing Suspect For A While
In nut shell, the ED appears to be in the stigma of targeting the opposition leaders or their associates and the issue of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul more appears like a political soap opera than anything else.
If Sonia Gandhi is unwell and visits the ED office along with his daughter with a box of medicine for any emergency, ED could have been more compassionate as her health problem is not a secret anymore.
