CJI Gavai reprimands ED: “Political battles should be fought among the public, agencies should not be misused”

The Supreme Court reprimanded the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and granted relief to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife in the MUDA scam case, quashing the ED’s petition. Chief Justice BR Gavai cautioned the ED against being used for political gains, stating that politicians should fight their political battles before voters, while investigative agencies should maintain neutrality.

New Delhi: The Chief Justice of the country (CJI) Justice BR Gavai on Monday, July 21, made a strong comment to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and ostensibly said that the politicians should fight the political battles among the voters, not through investigative agencies.

He made this comment during the hearing of the money laundering case involving Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his wife BM Parvati. The case is related to the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA), in which an investigation was conducted against Siddaramaiah's wife for alleged illegal land allotment.

The Karnataka High Court had quashed the ED investigation in this case, against which the ED appealed to the Supreme Court. The case was being heard by a bench of CJI BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran.

During the hearing, the CJI made a verbal remark, "Political battles should be fought among the voters. Why is the Enforcement Directorate being involved in this process?"

The CJI further said in a strict tone, "Don't make me open our mouth Mr. Raju (Additional Solicitor General appearing for ED). Otherwise we will have to make harsh comments about ED. Unfortunately, I have experience of Maharashtra politics and you should not continue such voilence in other parts of the country."

After this, the Supreme Court dismissed the ED's petition and gave relief to Siddaramaiah's wife. The court clarified that there is no error in the March 7 decision of the Karnataka High Court, in which the summons against BM Parvati were quashed. The apex court said that keeping in view the circumstances and facts of the case, the appeal has no merit, so it is dismissed.

This decision is not only a legal decision, but is also being seen as a strict warning of the Supreme Court on the misuse of political agencies.