Modi force vs Mamata wall

Politicians misusing state agencies should be held personally accountable

 

Alok Tiwari

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid on the offices of political consultancy firm I-PAC in Kolkata and other places and the premises of its owner Pratik Jain last fortnight was hardly a surprise. With elections due in the state in months, it was only a matter of time before BJP reached for its now familiar ED playbook. Remember the land grab case of Jharkhand and liquor policy case of Delhi in which the serving chief ministers of those states were jailed? Those too had acquired miraculous urgency as the elections in those states neared. Now that the elections are out of the way, the cases and need for having the accused in custody are no longer that crucial.

The present case relates to proceeds from a coal smuggling racket allegedly paid to I-PAC for doing political consultancy for Trinamool Congress. This time though ED ran against a Mamata Banerjee wall. The WB chief minister barged into the I-PAC offices while the raid was on with state police and other senior officials. ED alleges she prevented them from gathering evidence. Not just that, the WB police registered a case against ED for having stolen sensitive documents relating to Trinamool Congress’s poll strategy.

The matter first reached the Calcutta High Court and then Supreme Court that stayed the WB police case against the ED. The court observed that the case raised serious issues relating to investigations by central agencies and interference by state agencies. Significantly, it did not stay the action by ED against the I-PAC or state government. Days later Jharkhand too registered a case of harassment and intimidation against ED officials on complaint of a citizen being investigated by the agency.

This is altogether a sad spectacle. What was unthinkable just a few years ago is fast becoming normal. The use of state law enforcement and investigation agencies against political opponents is getting worse by the day. If Centre is unleashing its agencies against political opponents, the opposition parties, in places they are in power, are retaliating by using the police. The way things are spiralling down, an armed confrontation between these agencies is not unthinkable. The fabric of the republic is already straining. The day that happens, it will tear apart.

Let us not kid ourselves that these cases have anything to do with corruption. The way cases are lodged and forgotten as per political convenience by not just ED and CBI but also by other arms like Income Tax department show them as naked effort at intimidation and obstruction. Mamata had seen the treatment meted out to Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren. She was right in fearing a similar action against herself or her key aides. To her it was an exercise aimed at paralysing her party and the entire campaign just before elections. With a controversial special intensive revision of electoral rolls already on in the state, this stirred an already heated cauldron.

Things may be calm for now but if this sort of actions continue, they may get ugly. The highest court may need to set boundaries on how elected governments use their agencies. It is a difficult and fraught exercise. No government can function if it cannot use the law enforcement agencies under its command freely. At the same time, the polity itself will collapse if agencies are used to advance political interests of the ruling party. Politics is not a morality play, and it is too much to expect politicians to behave ethically all the time. Yet, nobody can be allowed to use agencies like their private army. This is not to suggest that serious cases against politicians not be pursued. Just that state agencies must not only act in good faith and be even handed but should also be seen to be so.

We also need to look at unfettered powers of arrest and custody that law enforcement agencies, particularly ED but also local police, have. Numerous laws now allow lengthy incarceration without trial. We are often told giving more powers to agencies is necessary to curb serious crimes like terrorism and economic offences. Experience has proved that wrong. Instead, these powers are being used more to curb dissent. When likes of Kejriwal, Soren or Mamata are targeted they can hire expensive lawyers and fight it out up to the Supreme Court. But victims with less means end up spending years in prison as agencies take their own time building a case.

Why should citizens pay for agencies’ incompetence? Build an expressway or two less but give these agencies necessary manpower, training, and resources to carry out quality investigations in time. Do not lower the bar for depriving citizens of their liberty or shift the burden of proof on accused. That leads to travesty of justice, as can be seen in case after case from Bhima Koregaon to Delhi riots. Worse, nobody in the agency or among its political masters is held responsible if an arrested person is ultimately proved innocent. What is the remedy available when an agency arrests somebody on flimsy grounds merely to serve a political purpose or to settle a score for someone powerful?

As more politicians show willingness to indulge in such colourable exercise of power, it is imperative to protect people’s liberty. Supreme Court is already seized of the WB case. It is well acquainted with how the agencies are being used, as practically every bail case has eventually landed before it. It has often called out the agencies acting on behalf of government of the day. It is time to do more. The people who order such action and entire chain of command that acquiesce to such orders should be held personally accountable. Only exemplary costs will make the officials resist acting on cases initiated politically and lacking hard evidence. It should be unacceptable to unreasonably deprive citizens of their liberty or disrupt their life even for a day.

This column appeared in Lokmat Times on Jan 22, 2026