Jharkhand: ED is seriously violating federalism?

The Congress has alleged that 96% of them are from opposition parties. It is also not a secret that the accused escaped investigation when he joined the ruling BJP. It is also noticed that operations of the ED take place with phenomenal speed before and during elections

The manner in which the Modi government manipulates the State's affairs is ominous. It is immeasurably affecting the morals of the opposition parties. They are losing their faith in the very democratic system the country has nurtured in odd circumstances. On the part of the government, the government is adamant about disregarding constitutional propriety. An unexpectedly compromised State of institutions let it do all the things the makers of the Constitution had hardly anticipated. The mainstream media has made it easy for the government to ignore every voice of dissent. It suppresses every news item of protest. The fact is that every section of society is dissenting against government policies. TV channels have blacked out all scenes of protests. It is not that they only ignore protests in the mufassil areas; they hardly cover events at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Protests by unemployed youths demanding appointment letters in the army or railways never make headlines. Can the BJP win the 2014 Lok Sabha elections by adopting such tactics? The party’s stance only indicates that it is confident in the efficacy of its policies.

The latest incident of assault on constitutional norms has come from the tribal State of Jharkhand. The sitting chief minister, Hemant Soren, was arrested and unseated. Attempts were also made to enthrone another government, which would further the interests of the ruling BJP. The chase and the arrest of Soren make a story of intrigue and the arbitrary use of procedures alien to a democracy. He was in Delhi when the ED wanted to arrest him. This was unwarranted, as he had already responded to the summons of the investigating agency and committed to meet them in Ranchi two days later. His Delhi residence was raided and searched, and the agency ensured the story of the seizure of a luxury car and Rs 36 lakhs was prominently flashed in the media. At the behest of the agency, the TV channels also spread the rumor that Soren evaded arrest and went underground. All these stories were carried out in the media without any mention of the chief minister or his ministerial colleagues. The state governor also gave statements on the issue. Two days later, Soren appeared in the Jharkhand capital, rejecting all the rumors that he had fled. He showed courage and determination that we have not seen in the past decades. He called a meeting of the coalition he was heading and decided the course of action that should save the government in the case of his arrest by the ED. The young leader meticulously planned his succession and appeared before the ED.

However, he did not forget to register an FIR against the ED officers under the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for searching and raiding his Delhi residence. The Jharkhand administration has already registered an FIR against the Central Reserve Police Force for violating prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CRPC. This was done against the entry of 500 CRPF personnel into the premises of the CM’s residence when he was being questioned by the ED on January 20.

Though these FIRs have failed to evoke any discussion in the Indian media, they expose the authoritarian stance on the part of the central government. How can the ED raid the house of a sitting chief minister without taking the state administration into confidence? How can they enter the premises of the CM’s residence without the consent of the state administration? The central agencies are making raids on ministers and public representatives in states without the consent of the state administration. We have seen similar scenes in West Bengal too. It seriously undermines the powers of the states given by the Constitution, under its federal arrangement.

"The Indian Constitution is a federal Constitution in as much as it established what may be called a dual polity which will consist of the Union at the Centre and the States at the periphery each endowed with sovereign powers to be exercised in the field assigned to them respectively by the Constitution,” says Dr. Ambedkar. Is the Modi government not violating the sovereign powers of the states by acting in this manner?

The ED has been chasing Soren in a case of land scam since months. Some arrests have already been made. It includes employees of the revenue department. However, the pattern of the investigation by the ED is similar to what it has done in Delhi and Maharashtra. One or more accused becomes an approver, and he implicates his political bosses. These politicians are invariably from the opposition parties! The Congress has alleged that 96 percent of them are from opposition parties. It is also not a secret that the accused escaped investigation when he joined the ruling BJP. It is also noticed that operations of the ED take place with phenomenal speed before and during elections. We have seen how it has been active in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana when these states were undergoing elections. Now, we do not hear of the ED doing anything in these states.

There is no doubt that the current spur in raids and questioning by the ED is inspired by the desire to weaken the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra of Rahul Gandhi and the INDIA alliance. It is evident from the ED’s targeting of strong allies of INDIA such as Lalu Prasad and Hemant Soren.

Though the BJP's tactics against Hemant Soren have failed, they seriously undermined federalism.

(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy)