The Enforcement Directorate (ED), over the past few years, has been facing cases against its officers who have been part of the investigating teams in some states, including Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, where the agency is probing alleged corruption charges against the ruling party members or government departments.
Even though the ED is probing cases in all states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana and others, the instances of ‘non-cooperation’ and ‘intimidation’ have only been witnessed in the states that are ruled by opposition parties. Some of these cases are filed without following proper protocol — officers were summoned without an FIR or picked up by the state police without issuing arrest warrant and the ED offices were raided in connection with cases against individual officers, a top source in the Union government told News18.
“These cases are instances of political vendetta as there is no basis for filing such cases. Even if there is an allegation against an individual officer of any central agency, the anti-corruption bureau of a state may investigate but there has to be proper paperwork, which includes case details, documents and evidences, search and arrest warrants and so on. The ED, CBI or any agency should also be informed if one of its officers is being probed or if there is an allegation against an officer,” said the source.
‘Non-cooperation, political vendetta’ in TN, Bengal
In November, in a specific case in Tamil Nadu in which the officers of Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption of the state raided the ED office in Madurai and arrested an officer in connection with graft charges, the directorate lodged a complaint with the DGP’s office alleging ‘trespassing’ and ‘stealing of records’.
News 18 has learnt from reliable sources in the central agency that the Tamil Nadu police did not carry an arrest or search warrant while raiding the ED’s zonal office or arresting the officer.
Two months before the case in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal witnessed a political slugfest unfolding between the Trinamool Congress and BJP after raids by the ED at Kolkata’s Leaps and Bounds Pvt Ltd in August, followed by a police versus police tussle.
The central agency was accused of downloading 16 “foreign files” in a computer during a search at the company’s office premises. The ED officer concerned was asked to appear before the Kolkata Police to which the agency expressed its inability, citing directions from the Calcutta High Court. There was a series of communications between the two investigative parties after a company executive filed a complaint with Kolkata Police on August 25. While there is no FIR in the matter, the ED officer was asked to appear before Kolkata Police on August 30, News18 learnt.
Corruption Probe to political battle-ground
Significantly, instances of ‘non-cooperation’ between the state and central agencies are on the rise as the police in some states have delayed or denied sharing the relevant documents despite court orders.
News18 spoke to senior serving and retired officers who have worked in CBI, ED and other central agencies to understand the cause and effect of such actions by the state governments.
“Non-cooperation includes not sharing related and relevant documents of a particular case which the central agencies are looking into. Apart from that, there have been instances of the state governments trying everything to slow down the process of investigation and legal procedures,” said a senior IPS officer who served in the CBI.
“There are also instances of senior officers from central agencies being put on surveillance, some were arrested, while others were charged with graft or extortion. In West Bengal, there were serious cases filed against senior CBI and ED officers. Some of these are still pending,” he added.
The ‘non-cooperation’ is not limited to ED. At least 11 states primarily ruled by the Opposition — Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka — have withdrawn general consent to CBI. The last to withdraw general consent on November 23 was Karnataka.
Even though there were some genuine allegations against some officers of central agencies where the state police or its anti-corruption bureau acted, there are some cases which were ‘fabricated’, said another senior officer who worked in a central agency’s zonal office in a state.
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