'Misuse' Of Probe Agencies: Supreme Court To Hear Plea Of 14 Oppn Parties Today

The petition cited that 95 per cent cases of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate were against the leaders of opposition parties.

The Supreme Court will hear today a petition filed by 14 Opposition parties alleging arbitrary use of central probe agencies like CBI and ED against political opponents and seeking guidelines for the future.

The plea will be heard by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and also comprising Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala.

The petition by the Opposition parties was filed last month by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who referred to the rise in the number of cases filed by the CBI and ED after the Narendra Modi-led government came to power in 2014.

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The petition cited that 95 per cent cases of CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) were against the leaders of opposition parties, PTI reported.

"I am asking for the guidelines for the future. This is a remarkable convergence of 14 parties against the misuse of the agencies, both CBI and ED," Singhvi had said.

"Second statistics, pre-2014 and post-2014: there is a humongous jump in cases. The rate of conviction is four to five per cent. We are asking for pre-arrest guidelines and post-arrest bail guidelines," Singhvi further said.

The plea also flagged an alarming rise in the use of coercive criminal processes against political opponents exercising their fundamental right to dissent, PTI reported.

"Investigating agencies such as 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," a statement issued on behalf of a petitioner alleged.

Besides the Congress, the parties that are signatories to the joint petition are DMK, RJD, BRS, Trinamool Congress, AAP, NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), JMM, JD(U), CPI(M), CPI, Samajwadi Party and the J&K National Conference.

Last week, Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh told Parliament that nine states across India, including several Opposition-ruled states, have withdrawn general consent given to the CBI.