14 political parties move Supreme Court against ‘misuse’ of CBI, ED against political rivals

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, March 24

Alleging misuse of central probe agencies against political rivals, 14 political parties, including the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, DMK, TMC and Bharat Rashtra Samiti, on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking pre-arrest and post-arrest guidelines.

A Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud agreed to take it up on April 5 after senior advocate AM Singhvi mentioned it for urgent listing and hearing.

Alleging that 95 per cent of the cases were against opposition leaders, Singhvi said, "We're asking for pre-arrest and post-arrest guidelines to be followed by the prosecuting agencies and courts."

He, however, clarified, "We're not trying to affect the existing investigations."

The 14 political parties represented 42% spectrum, Singhvi said, adding that the petitioners were saying that democracy was in peril.

The petition comes at a time when several leaders of the political parties -- which have moved the top court -- are facing CBI and Enforcement Directorate probes in corruption and money-laundering cases.

The petitioners alleged that many opposition leaders had been arbitrarily arrested by the central probe agencies.