Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday in the Delhi liquor policy case fits into a larger pattern of Opposition parties coming under the organisation’s net under the BJP-led NDA rule since 2014. A report carried by The Indian Express in September 2022 — based on a study of court records, agency statements and reports of politicians booked, arrested, raided or questioned by the ED — pointed to how, since 2014, when the Narendra Modi-led BJP first came to power, there had been a four-fold jump in ED cases against politicians in comparison to the UPA regime earlier. The investigation showed that 121 prominent politicians had come under ED probe between 2014 and 2022, of whom 115 were Opposition leaders who had been booked, raided, questioned or arrested - 95% of the cases. This was in sharp contrast to the agency’s casebook under the UPA regime (2004 to 2014) – when 26 political leaders in all were probed by the agency. Of these, 14 were Opposition leader, or more than half (54%). Since The Indian Express carried the report in September 2022, other Opposition leaders have come under the ED radar. This includes then Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia (March 2023), also arrested in the Delhi liquor policy case in which Kejriwal was held Thursday; JMM leader Hemant Soren (January 2024), who quit as Jharkhand Chief Minister just before his arrest; Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha (earlier this month), the daughter of former Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao who is also facing charges in the Delhi liquor policy case. The significant increase in ED cases is mainly attributed to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), a law that has been strengthened since it came into force in 2005. With stringent bail conditions, its provisions now grant the agency powers to arrest and attach properties and assets of the accused — and make a statement recorded before an investigating officer as admissible in court as evidence. The Opposition has raised the ED issue multiple times in Parliament, alleging they are being disproportionately targeted by the agency. It is a charge that the Government and ED have strongly denied, with agency officials saying that its action is non-political and arises from cases first registered by other agencies or the state police. The party wise break-up of the Opposition in the ED’s net between 2014 and September 2022 was: The Congress 24, TMC 19, NCP 11, Shiv Sena 8, DMK 6, BJD 6, RJD 5, BSP 5, SP 5, TDP 5, AAP 3, INLD 3, YSRCP 3, CPM 2, NC 2, PDP 2, Ind 2, AIADMK 1, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena 1, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party 1 and BRS 1. Under the UPA, it was the CBI that was accused of initiating cases against potential allies of the Congress, such as the SP and BSP, and then going slow on them after their support was achieved. Under NDA-II, the ED has similarly been accused of going slow on cases against Opposition politicians who switched sides. Himanta Biswa Sarma, now Assam Chief Minister, was investigated by the CBI and the ED in 2014 and 2015 over the Saradha chit fund scam when he was part of the Congress. The CBI raided his house and office in 2014, and even questioned him. However, following his entry into the BJP, there has been no reported development in the case. Similarly, former TMC leaders Suvendu Adhikari and Mukul Roy had been put under scanner by the CBI and the ED in the Narada sting operation case. Adhikari and Roy had joined the BJP before the West Bengal polls in 2017, and the cases against them have not seen any significant development. Though the ED has chargesheeted four TMC leaders, the two, along with some other TMC leaders, have not yet been named due to lack of sanction from the authorities concerned. Roy has since returned to the TMC. The ED was also the first agency to conduct searches on the premises of then TDP MP Y S Chowdary and attach his assets in early 2019. Months later, Chowdary joined the BJP. The ED, however, chargesheeted him later. The ED has also been at the forefront in building cases against the Gandhi family, with Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi facing a probe in the National Herald case after a Delhi court took cognizance of a private complaint by BJP’s Subramanian Swamy. The agency was the first to raid a company associated with Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra, questioning him multiple times in a money laundering case. Besides, the agency has pursued former finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti in connection with the Aircel Maxis case. Its probe has resulted into two more cases — the INX Media case and the “bribes for visa” case — against the Chidambarams. The ED has also moved against relatives of senior politicians who have been accused of corruption and money laundering. Under NDA-II, at least six relatives and family members of key Congress politicians, including Kamal Nath, have been placed under probe. Kerala CPI(M) leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s son is also facing an ED probe. In July 2020, as the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan faced a revolt by the then deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, the ED raided premises associated with Gehlot’s brother, Agrasen, in connection with a probe into alleged diversion of fertilisers in 2007-09. At the same time, records also show that the ED booked BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal’s brother-in-law Lalit Goyal of the Ireo Group for allegedly defrauding investors and home buyers. The other senior Opposition politicians facing probes under NDA-II include D K Shivakumar from Karnataka; former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda; and, the late Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel, who was Sonia’s aide. This list also includes over a dozen prominent TMC politicians, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee. Then, there are leaders of the NCP and Shiv Sena, both parties which have split and helped the BJP come into power in Maharashtra; and, former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad and his family. The agency is also probing five BJP politicians, including Karnataka mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy and former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia’s son Dushyant Singh. During the UPA regime, prominent BJP politicians under the ED scanner included BJP’s Gali Janardhan Reddy, Laxmikant Sharma (Vyapam case) and former Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa. The list also included TMC politicians Sudip Bandopadhyay (Rose Valley chit fund case), and Kunal Ghosh, Srinjoy Bose, Madan Mitra, Arpita Ghosh, Mukul Roy and Tapas Paul (Saradha case). Under the UPA, the ED moved against Congress politicians such as former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan (Adarsh housing case), Suresh Kalmadi (Commonwealth Games case) and Naveen Jindal (coal blocks case). The agency also took action against UPA ally DMK’s A Raja and Kanimozhi (2G case), and Dayanidhi Maran and Kalanithi Maran (Aircel-Maxis case). When asked by The Indian Express at the time to explain the skew against the Opposition, the ED declined to comment. But an agency official said: “The ED is the last agency you can accuse of political bias as it cannot register cases on its own. Only after a politician is booked by a state police or any central agency can the ED register a case of money laundering. We are also probing many BJP politicians. A fresh case against Gali Janardhan Reddy was initiated after the Modi Government came to power.” The official said, “Also, we register cases after proper scrutiny. All our chargesheets are being taken cognizance of by the courts. The accused are unable to secure bail because courts are not convinced of their innocence.”
