Selective use of state machinery

The arrest of senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik falls into a pattern that has now become familiar across the country. It again raises questions about the conduct of central investigative agencies under the Narendra Modi government. Action against Nawab Malik was not unexpected. He had probably become a target after he raised serious questions about the drugs case which was sought to be made out against Shah Rukh Khan’s son by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) last year. He also claimed that the BJP had a role in the case and made charges against former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Opposition politicians and those who are critical of the government have generally invited the adverse attention of central agencies. Those who took positions like Nawab Malik and managed to expose an agency like the NCB could expect special attention. Malik is the second NCP leader, after former minister Anil Deshmukh, against whom the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has acted.

The ED arrested Malik in a money-laundering case that pertains to a transaction in 1999 in which one of his companies had bought a property for a price less than the market price. The agency has also alleged that the sale was done by a person who had links with an associate of underworld don David Ibrahim. It has been claimed on behalf of Malik that a case cannot be made out over the charges raised by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) because the law itself was enacted only in 2002. Malik has raised other objections too. It is for the court to take a view on the matter. There could be no defence of Malik if there is a genuine case against him, and he should certainly be punished.

But Malik’s case is like many other recent cases. Investigative agencies have been misused by all governments in the past. But the present government has misused them so brazenly and cynically as weapons that they have now been reduced to its political arms. There is a spurt in cases against leaders of opposition parties now. Those who are siding with the government and the ruling party are spared, even if there are serious charges against them. Officers who act according to the government’s wishes are rewarded in many ways. The deterioration might reach a stage where the actions of the agencies would not carry conviction even when they act rightly against wrongdoers. That can lead to a crisis of confidence and loss of credibility of the entire system of governance. That is why selective use of state machinery and agencies is wrong and could undermine democracy and rule of law.