That smell of vindictiveness, again

While the scandal over the recovery of crores of rupees in Kolkata, said to be linked to former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, is still fresh, there is a new sensation, with the CBI conducting raids on the offices and residences of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and some others to probe, as per the agency, corruption charges against them. The ED is expected to follow the CBI. While the charges against Chatterjee relate to recruitments, the complaint against Sisodia is about illegal gains allegedly made from the implementation of the AAP government’s liquor policy in Delhi. No money has been recovered from Sisodia and the others, but an FIR has been registered and a big campaign has been unleashed against them. There is a no-holds-barred spat between the BJP and the AAP, which is growing shriller and fiercer. The BJP has said that the liquor policy of the Kejriwal government, introduced last year and withdrawn this year, was a corrupt programme. The AAP has said that the policy could not be properly implemented as the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, who is an agent of the Centre, had tampered with it.

Whether Sisodia was involved in any irregularities will only be known after the investigation. But what is known is that the Centre’s probe agencies are targeting Opposition politicians all over the country. These agencies conduct well-publicised raids, which are followed by well-coordinated uproars dubbing the targets as corrupt and criminal. Elected governments have the right to pursue policies that they think are right. They can be politically opposed, but targeting them for criminal investigation would be considered political vindictiveness. It is true that there is corruption in the implementation of even the best policies, and so it is difficult to describe every investigation as wrong. But the record of the government and the background in which such investigations take place make their motives suspect.

Central investigating agencies like the CBI, the ED and even the Narcotics Control Bureau are increasingly being used against Opposition politicians and critics of the government. The misuse of these agencies is very open and blatant now. Such aggressive actions by the government become more damaging when the usual checks and balances in the system are weak. The process is the punishment for most, but many may not even be able to come out unscarred from the process. In a democracy, politics should not be conducted with police might. Without holding Sisodia and others innocent or guilty, it can be said that such actions are taken more as vindictive assaults than as credible action against wrongdoing. Or is it driven by fear that the AAP is gaining traction in Gujarat ahead of elections later this year?