Q, ED

The worst guesses about why the Enforcement Directorate has asked to see the Customs report on the Aishwarya Rai/foreign exchange case are understandable. Because no logical arguments exist for such a move. These columns had argued, when Mumbai Customs had seemed thrilled at the prospect of 8220;extensively interrogating8221; Rai, that, if nothing else, the radical change in India8217;s economic policy and foreign exchange situation made such financial sleuthing antediluvian at best and extra-legally motivated at best. Thankfully, Customs concluded that Rai didn8217;t qualify as a star economic offender. The ED apparently is compelled to ask for the Customs report and cast a beady eye on it because it is 8220;routine8221; procedure. This is risible in a general law enforcement context, in which investigative procedures are routinely tailored to produce non-routine situations for those specially favoured.

So questions will inevitably and justifiably be asked whether in a political context that is no stranger to down and dirty strategies the special treatment of Rai is on account of some personal choices she may make. Strong denials by concerned authorities will simply add to suspicions, because prima facie there8217;s absolutely no reason why the ED should have got involved. But the issue is a larger one. The worrying characteristic is the propensity of many of our investigative officers to deliberately confuse the trivial with the serious when big names are involved. A recent case in point is Alister Perreira, accused of running over five people in Mumbai. Perreira got bail in the main case but was booked again by the police for having forged his birth certificate years back while applying for his driving licence. Prosecute the apprehended by all means 8212; but why become obsessed with finding every little violation when the persons involved are deemed to be big?

It is hard to argue that this is good investigative procedure. Just as it is hard to argue that with nearly 170 billion dollars in hard currency reserve, with FERA abolished and with the money laundering law being supposedly geared to terror-financing and big, genuine white collar crime, the ED8217;s priorities should include reopening a case another agency has already settled to its official satisfaction. As India has modernised, its economic sleuthing methods should have modernised too. Rai deserves better than celebrity-obsessed and intellectually challenged economic law enforcers. So does every other Indian citizen.