[BREAKING] 14 political parties move Supreme Court alleging misuse of CBI, ED; seek pre-arrest guidelines

Fourteen political parties moved the Supreme Court on Friday alleging that the Central government led by Bharatiya Janata Party is misusing central agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED)..The petitioners which include the Indian National Congress (INC), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Dravida Munnetra Kazahgam (DMK) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have sought pre-arrest guidelines.The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud by Senior Counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi for urgent listing. "14 political parties have come together, seeking pre-arrest guidelines and their enforcement. Today CBI ED entirely being used against us," Singhvi said..He further claimed that 95 percent of probes by central agencies are against leaders from opposition parties.The CJI agreed to list the case on April 5..The petitioner-political parties are: INC, DMK, RJD, BRS, TMC, AAP, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena (UBT), JMM, JD(U), CPI(M), CPI, Samajwadi Party, J&K National Conference..According to the petitioners, there has been an alarming rise in the use of coercive criminal processes against opposition political leaders and other citizens exercising their fundamental right to dissent and disagree with the union government. Investigating agencies such as the CBI and ED are being increasingly deployed in a selective and targeted manner with a view to completely crush political dissent and upend the fundamental premises of a representative democracy, it was submitted..The petitioner also shed light on statistics to buttress their claims. These are:.- The action rate on raids in terms of complaints filed following raids reduced from 93 per cent in 2005-2014, to 29 per cent in 2014-2022;- Only 23 convictions have been secured as of now under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) despite a rise in the number of cases registered by the ED from 209 in 2013-14 to 981 in 2020-21, and 1180 in 2021-22;- Between 2004 and 14, of the 72 political leaders investigated by the CBI, 43 (under 60 percent) were from the opposition of the time. Now, this figure is over 95 percent. In ED investigations, proportion of opposition leaders from total number of politicians investigated rose from 54 percent before 2014 to 95 percent after 2014. .What are the petitioners praying for?.- The petitioners have sought guidelines to fulfil and realise the guarantee of personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution for all citizens including those targeted for exercising their right to political dissent and for performing their duties as the political opposition..- For arrest and remand They have prayed for the triple test to be used by police officers, ED officials and courts alike for the arrest of persons in any cognisable offences except those involving serious bodily violence. Where these conditions are not satisfied, alternatives like interrogation at fixed hours or at the most house arrest be used to meet the demands of investigation..- For bailThe petitioner had prayed the principle of ‘bail as rule, jail as exception’ be followed by all courts especially in cases of non-violent offences.They have also prayed that bail be denied only where the triple-test is not met. In cases where special laws such as PMLA with stringent bail conditions are concerned, the petitioners have sought directions harmonise such bail with Article 21 of the Constitution. Where it appears that trial is unlikely to complete within 6 months, the accused be released on bail even under special laws unless the conditions under the triple-test are not fulfilled..The petition has been drawn and filed through advocate Shadan Farasat and settled by Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi.