New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear the petition of misuse of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) agencies filed by 14 political parties, including the Congress.
The petition has been withdrawn. The CJI said that the court will not hear this petition and suggested the opposition to withdraw the petition.
The CJI said that this is not a petition filed by the affected people and filed by 14 political parties. The CJI said that the conviction rate in the country is anyway low.
Congress leader and eminent jurist Abhishek Manu Singhvi told the court that they have not come to interfere in the ongoing investigation. They want to frame some guidelines.
On this, CJI said, “Can we quash the charges on basis of this plea? You give us some statistics. Ultimately, a political leader is basically a citizen. As citizens, we are all subject to the same law.”
Following this, Singhvi said, “We 14 parties together represent 45.19% of the votes cast in the last state/UT assembly elections. It was 42.5% of the votes cast in the 2019 general elections and we are in power in 11 states/Union Territories.”
The CJI said, “From your petition, it seems that opposition leaders are being targeted, but in the debate, you are saying that leaders should be protected from arrest. This is not a case of murder or sexual assault. How can we issue such orders? The moment you call democracy, it is essentially an argument for politicians.”
The CJI further said,”You can approach the court when the agencies have not followed the law. It is not possible for us to issue guidelines like this. We have issued guidelines regarding bail etc. but all of them were issued on the basis of facts. We decide according to the law.”