The clean chit for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia by a Delhi court in the politically charged excise policy case on Friday is the latest legal reprieve for Opposition leaders in the country, providing a fresh impetus to the Opposition’s narrative that the BJP government has selectively and deliberately targeted it using central investigating agencies. This is expected to put the BJP on the defensive and provide the Opposition with fresh ammunition a week and a half before the Budget Session of Parliament resumes.
This is the third legal reprieve for an Opposition leader this week. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court stayed criminal proceedings against Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for allegedly not responding to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The same day, the Punjab and Haryana High Court exonerated former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the CBI case related to the allotment of land to Associated Journals Limited (AJL). All of this comes two months after another court refused to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) chargesheet in the National Herald money laundering case against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others.
One of the recurring themes of the BJP’s political narrative — apart from a combination of communal rhetoric, hyper-nationalism, welfare schemes, and claims of a resurgent India under Modi — has been that most of the Opposition leaders are corrupt and dynastic and contrasting them with the absence of big-ticket corruption cases against BJP’s central ministers and top leaders since Modi came to power to the Centre in 2014.
With the cases moving to higher courts, the likely BJP counter-argument would be that the legal proceedings are continuing and are far from over. It will be a battle of narratives from now on, with the Opposition arguing that the courts are dismissing corruption cases against their leaders as they are politically motivated and devoid of any merit. In 2022, an Indian Express series on cases against prominent politicians showed that 95% of cases involving politicians filed by the CBI and ED under the Modi government were against the Opposition, and initiated just ahead of elections in particular states.
The BJP is likely to counter by saying the last word on all these cases has not yet been spoken. The CBI has already announced it will appeal the verdict in the excise policy case in a higher court.
In the National Herald case, the ED has already challenged the special court’s refusal to take cognisance of its prosecution complaint in the Delhi High Court, which is scheduled to hear the matter on March 9. The BJP had been in the political wilderness in Delhi for two-and-a-half decades before storming to power last year on the back of corruption charges against Kejriwal and the AAP over the liquor policy. The other charge was a more personal one. The Civil Lines house in which former CM Kejriwal lived was dubbed the “Sheesh Mahal” as it was allegedly renovated for nearly Rs 40 crore. It was a recurring theme in the party’s offensive against him.
Congress circumspect, others rejoice
The lower courts have given Kejriwal and Co and the Gandhis much-needed relief, but the fact remains that their legal troubles are far from over. But the clear-cut verdicts will give the Opposition fresh ammunition to target the BJP.
Exonerating Kejriwal and the others, Special Judge Jitendra Singh noted there was “no overarching conspiracy or criminal intent in the excise policy”. In its order letting off Hooda and the others, the Punjab and Haryana High Court was also sharply critical of the CBI, saying its approach was legally unsustainable and continuing the prosecution would amount to an abuse of the process of the court. In the Soren case, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant pulled up the ED, saying, “Yesterday, we were reading in a newspaper that you (ED) have filed bulk complaints. Concentrate and spend your energy on those complaints. You will have some constructive outcomes.”
“The Union BJP government must not mortgage the integrity of investigating agencies for short-term politics. Have some shame. Well done, my respected friend Thiru. @ArvindKejriwal, and Thiru. @msisodia, for standing firm through it all and letting the truth speak for itself,” said Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin in a social media post.
The Trinamool Congress too cheered — “Satyameva Jayate! BJP learn your lesson while there is still time. All your dirty tricks, your ED, your CBI – all these puppets will die in the face of truth,” said party MP Mahua Moitra — and so did the Samajwadi Party and the RJD.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said the verdict was nothing short of a “moral death sentence” for the BJP and added, “Today, every honest soul will breathe a sigh of hopeful relief, while BJP supporters must be writhing in deep shame and profound self-reproach. The BJP has betrayed the people of Delhi.”
While the BJP will face questions from Opposition leaders, the Opposition bloc itself is not united. The Congress took a jibe following the verdict of the Delhi court in the excise case, given that the AAP is its opponent in Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat, and Goa.
“The BJP is not a political party. It is a shape-shifter, a wishful serpent — Icchadhari Naag. It will stoop to any level for one obsessive goal: defeat Congress — Congress Mukt Bharat. For 12 years they spewed venom at the TMC. And now? Narendra Modi himself is showering it with praise – not out of respect, but to land a cheap blow at Congress.”
“Elections are coming. So the script is predictable. Cases against Congress leaders will suddenly accelerate — @PChidambaram_IN has already been dragged back into the spotlight because Tamil Nadu is going for polls. Meanwhile, proceedings against their convenient ‘allies’ in the AAP and others will quietly vanish in light of the Gujarat and Punjab elections. This is the BJP playbook: vendetta as governance and agencies as campaign tools,” said Congress media department head Pawan Khera.