After the Supreme Court’s scathing remarks on Monday questioning why the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is becoming a “political weapon,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lambasted the BJP for turning central agencies into tools for crushing the Opposition. Senior AAP leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly, Atishi, said the Supreme Court’s latest remarks have once again exposed the ED’s role as a political tool for the BJP. From defying court orders to reviving dead cases before elections, the agency’s pattern of targeting Opposition leaders shows clear misuse of power, driven by vendetta — not justice.
Addressing a press conference, senior AAP leader and Delhi Assembly LoP Atishi stated, “Today, the Supreme Court made very sharp observations against the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The court directly asked why the ED is becoming a political weapon and why it is being used for political battles.”
Explaining the Karnataka case, she said, “In this particular case, the ED issued summons to the wife of Karnataka’s Chief Minister. When those summons were challenged, the Karnataka High Court quashed them. Despite that, the ED still went to the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order.”
Referring to repeated criticism by the judiciary, Atishi said, “This is not the first instance where the Supreme Court has come down heavily on central agencies. When the Supreme Court granted bail to Arvind Kejriwal, it had made equally sharp remarks, comparing these agencies to a ‘caged parrot’ and stating that his arrest was driven by political malice. Time and again, the Supreme Court has expressed concerns over the ED and CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) being used for political purposes.”
Calling out the misuse in recent cases, the Delhi Assembly LoP added, “If we look at the record of ED and CBI over the past few years, there is a clear pattern. Sanjay Singh was arrested, followed by several other AAP leaders. Yet, the agencies have failed to produce any proceeds of crime. The same was done with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and present Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, with TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, and with the entire RJD leadership before the Bihar elections. The BJP’s central government is running a deliberate conspiracy, using ED to file cases against every opposition leader and harass them one after the other.”
On the calculated political misuse, Atishi said, “It is now clear that ED first arrests people, knowing that there is no provision for bail under PMLA, and keeps them in jail. Once the Supreme Court grants them bail, the agencies dump the case into cold storage till the next election season. When elections come, the same cases are revived to again harass opposition leaders. But on Monday, the Supreme Court once again exposed the central investigation agencies CBI and ED, revealing how the BJP-led central government is misusing these agencies.”
