These days there is talk of arrest of former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. Sisodia has been arrested by the CBI in connection with the investigation of the alleged scam in the liquor policy. Sisodia is not the only leader on whom the CBI has clamped down. Many big leaders of the opposition have come on the target of CBI and ED. In 9 years, 95 percent of the opposition leaders are caught by ED and CBI. The list of these leaders includes the names of many big opposition leaders – Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, DK Shivkumar, Sanjay Raut, Akhilesh Yadav, besides the names of many big and veteran leaders.
For some time now, a large section of the opposition has been repeatedly repeating that the Modi government is using central agencies to ‘control’ the opposition. This allegation is not new. The Supreme Court had made a comment in 2013 that ‘CBI is the parrot of the government’. Then there was UPA government in the country.
First talk about such cases when the opposition raised direct questions on the ED.
On 3 July 2022, a new alliance was formed in Maharashtra and slogans of “ED, ED” were raised by the opposition. The slogans were seen as an attempt to fuel allegations that the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde joined hands with the BJP fearing the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
On 21 August, BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh claimed that the Center had sent the ED to investigate separate cases against TMC leaders.
Both these cases from two different states show the growing perception among political parties that “ED is now the new CBI”. The opposition sees the ED’s investigation as political.
A 2022 report published in the Indian Express states that in 18 years, the ED had investigated 147 prominent politicians, out of which more than 95 percent were opposition leaders in the last 9 years. That is, since 2014, there has been a four-fold increase in the use of ED against politicians. During this period, 121 politicians came under the purview of which more than 115 are opposition leaders.
The ED’s casebook has also seen a sharp increase in the number of opposition politicians and their close relatives. All these opposition leaders have come under scrutiny since the NDA-2 government came to power in 2014.
Let us know about the prominent opposition leaders on whom the ED and CBI cracked down in the last 9 years:
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi
The ED had registered a case against Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi for the acquisition of the National Herald newspaper. This matter of money laundering was raised by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy. Swamy had filed a private complaint in a court in 2013. In his complaint, Swamy had alleged that the Gandhi family had committed fraud and misappropriation of funds during the acquisition.
In June 2022, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were summoned by the ED in this matter for questioning.
According to the report of the Indian Express, till September 2022, there were 24 Congress leaders under the scanner of the investigating agencies. Till then DMK 6, Biju Janata Dal 6, Samajwadi Party 5, BSP 5, AAP 3, YSRCP 3, INLD 3, CPM 2, PDP 2 and TRS, AIADMK, MNS one- The investigation of the investigating agencies against one of the leaders is going on.
P Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram
CBI and ED have also clamped down on former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram. Both have been accused of having a role in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) clearance in the INX Media and Aircel-Maxis deals. The agencies alleged that in both the cases, FDI clearance was granted through fraudulent means in lieu of kickbacks received by Karti.
The Aircel-Maxis case is part of the 2G probe. This matter is going on since 2012. In 2021, Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI and ED last year in the INX case. In both the cases, the agency has filed prosecution complaints.
DK Shivakumar
Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar was arrested by the ED on September 3, 2019. In September 2018, the central agency had registered a money laundering case against Shivakumar and others.
In 2017, Shivakumar allegedly put up 44 Gujarat Congress MLAs at a resort in Karnataka. During that time senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel was contesting the Rajya Sabha elections. After this the Income Tax Department searched Shivkumar and the ED also took action. In December 2022, the ED filed a prosecution complaint against Shivakumar.
Bhupendra Hooda
The ED is probing two major cases against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda. One pertains to the alleged Manesar land scam and the other pertains to the allotment of land in Panchkula to the Gandhi family-owned Associated Journals Limited (AJL). The Manesar land scam case pertains to land allegedly acquired from farmers at throwaway prices and given to builders. The AJL case is related to causing huge loss to the exchequer.
Ahmed Patel
The ED’s noose has also been tightened on senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel. Please tell that Ahmed Patel died of Kovid-19 last year. Patel was being probed by the ED in connection with the Sterling Biotech case. This case was related to the fraud of Gujarat businessmen Nitin and Chetan Sandesara. The case pertains to an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 20,000 crore. In June and July 2020, the ED questioned Patel several times over his alleged links with the Sandesara family. In 2019, the ED interrogated Patel’s son Faisal.
Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, Karti Chidambaram
Three Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, Karti Chidambaram are accused in the Rajasthan ambulance scam. Charges were filed against all three in 2015. In 2010, the ambulance scheme was fraudulently given to a company called Jikitza Healthcare. Sachin Pilot and Karti Chidambaram were reportedly directors of the company.
Bhupesh Baghel
The Bhupesh Baghel government of Chhattisgarh is constantly under pressure from the investigative agencies. In December 2022, Bhupesh Baghel’s OSD Saumya Chaurasia was arrested by the ED.
Let us inform that on February 20, 2022, the ED raided the houses and offices of about 6 Congress leaders including Congress Party Treasurer Ramgopal Agarwal, Congress MLAs Devendra Yadav and Chandradev Rai in Chhattisgarh.
Himanta Biswa Sarma
In 2014 and 2015, the CBI and ED had investigated the Saradha chit fund scam against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The CBI had raided his house and office in 2014 and also questioned him. He was accused of having financial dealings with Sudipta Sen, the prime accused in the Saradha case.
According to the Indian Express report, in 2016, Sarma joined the BJP after the Assam elections. After that no hearing has been done in the matter.
Sukhwinder Singh alias Lali (Jalandhar)
Sukhwinder Singh, the Congress President of Jalandhar district of Punjab, was raided by the ED in 2019 for violating Foreigners FEMA. He was accused of having property in Canada. In July 2020, the ED attached his residence in Jalandhar in connection with this case.
CPI(M) Pinarayi Vijayan
In the 1995 SNC Lavalin case, a charge sheet was filed by the CBI against Pinarayi Vijayan, the then Kerala state secretary of the CPI(M). Started money laundering investigation in April 2021 in the case. Vijayan has not been questioned in the entire case nor has he been named in the case.
Thomas Isaac
In March 2021, a month before the state elections, the ED summoned the deputy CEO and CEO of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) for questioning in connection with alleged foreign exchange violations. The probe was based on a CAG report which stated that K IIFB raised funds from the international market without the consent of the central government.
CBI raids on RJD leaders in Bihar
In 2022, CBI raided the houses of RJD leaders in Bihar in exchange for alleged job land scam. About four RJD leaders were raided by the CBI. These included MLC Sunil Singh, considered close to Lalu Yadav, MP Ashfaq Karim, Fayaz Ahmed and former MLC Subodh Rai.
Former Chief Minister of Bihar and President of RJD Lalu Prasad Yadav has already been sentenced in many cases besides fodder scam. At present, five RJD leaders are under investigation by ED and CBI.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren
In February 2022, BJP leader and former Chief Minister Raghubar Das targeted Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soran, saying that Soren had allegedly misused his position as Chief Minister and Minister of Mines.
Governor Ramesh Bais sent a copy of this complaint to the Election Commission. The Commission had sent its decision on Hemant Soren to the Governor, which has not been made public till now. ED had sent summons to Hemant Soren on 3 November 2022 for questioning.
Investigation agencies target NCP and Shiv Sena leaders
The Indian Express told in its investigation that action was taken against 11 leaders of NCP and 8 of Shiv Sena by the investigating agencies.
The ED’s noose has also been tightened on former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 1 August 2022 in Mumbai. Raut was accused of land embezzlement in connection with the reconstruction of 672 flats in a chawl in Siddharth Nagar in Goregaon.
BSP –
The UP Vigilance Department has registered a case against ministers and officials of the BSP government for alleged irregularities in the construction of monuments during Mayawati’s reign. In 2014, a case of money laundering was registered in this matter. In January 2019, raids were conducted at seven places.
According to the ED, the alleged irregularities in the construction of the monuments caused a loss of Rs 111.44 crore to the exchequer between 2007 and 2012. At the time of demonetisation, Mayawati also came under the scanner.
Mohammad Iqbal
There is a case of alleged irregularities and corruption in the disinvestment of 21 sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh during the Mayawati regime. Both CBI and ED are probing the matter. In March last year, the ED attached seven sugar mills owned by former BSP MLC Mohammad Iqbal and his family under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Apart from these, ED has also tightened its grip on BSP leader Vinay Shankar.
SP
Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is also under the scanner of both the CBI and the ED for irregularities in the Gomti riverfront project.
Aajam Khan
In 2020, ED had registered a case against SP leader Azam Khan. A case has been registered against Azam Khan for alleged transfer of Ali Johar Trust money.
TDP
ED is also probing separate cases on TDP’s YS Chowdhary, Prabhakar Reddy, Rayapati Rao, A Revnath Reddy.
TRS- Naam Nageswara Rao
The ED had attached assets worth around Rs 96 crore in connection with the money laundering probe on TRS Lok Sabha MP Nama Nageswara Rao’s company Madhucon Group.
INLD- Om Prakash Chautala
In 2019, the ED had attached properties allegedly linked to the former Haryana chief minister in a disproportionate assets case. Chautala and his sons Abhay and Ajay had assets worth over Rs 3.68 crore allegedly attached in Delhi and Haryana.
MNS- Raj Thackeray
In August 2019, the ED questioned Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray. The case was related to Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) loan irregularities to Kohinoor CTL. The investigation is still going on.
Apart from this, Robert Vadra, Ashok Gehlot’s brother Agrasen Gehlot, Ratul Puri, nephew of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, are under the scanner of different EDs among the relatives of the opposition party.
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