Supreme Court Supreme Court rejects Opposition's plea on 'misuse of probe agencies'
New Delhi/IBNS: In a setback for 14 Opposition parties, the Supreme Court Wednesday rejected a petition that accused the Narendra Modi government of misusing the powers of the central probe agencies to "harass" its political rivals.
"You please come back to us when you have an individual criminal case or group of cases," the court said.
It added that "laying down general guidelines without having relation to facts of a case will be dangerous".
The petition was filed by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, which was a rare show of unity for India's diverse opposition.
This came after the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Parliament and the arrest of the Aam Aadmi Party's Manish Sisodia.
The petition claimed that there was a "drastic and exponential increase" in the number of cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against opposition leaders since 2014 when PM Modi came to power.
Singhvi cited statistics to show that the ED had registered six times more cases in the last seven years than in the previous decade but had a conviction rate of only 23 per cent.
He also alleged that 95 per cent of the ED and CBI cases were against opposition leaders from across the country and that this was a clear indication of political vendetta and bias.
However, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud expressed doubts about the validity and feasibility of the petition.
He asked Singhvi whether he was seeking immunity for opposition parties from investigation and prosecution and whether they had any special rights as citizens.
"Political leaders do not enjoy an immunity higher than the common citizens... once we accept that political leaders are absolutely on the same footing as common citizens with no higher immunity, then how can we say there can be no arrests unless there is a three-pronged test which is satisfied," the court said.
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