SC rejects Opposition plea to stop 'misuse' of CBI, ED by Centre

The Supreme Court has rejected a petition filed by the opposition parties on the alleged misuse of the Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED).

A Division Bench of Chief Justice of India, D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala observed that politicians cannot be placed on a pedestal higher than the citizens and cannot seek special treatment under the law and immunity from arrest.

The SC was hearing a plea by 14 political parties on the alleged misuse of central agencies like the CBI and ED.

The court also told the petitioners, "you come with specific cases. We cannot lay down the law in abstract on the basis of certain statistics."

The court held that laying down of general guidelines sans facts of a case is extremely dangerous.

"We need facts to lay down general principles of law," the Bench added.

The court also asked the individual politicians to approach courts for appropriate remedy. The Supreme Court said, " politicians are citizens and can't enjoy any higher protection. When you (political parties) argue that there is a chilling effect on the opposition because of CBI or ED against the opposition political leaders, the answer lies in the political space and not in the courts."

Senior advocate, Abhishek Manu Singhvi who was arguing for the political made several attempts to convince the courts that the political parties are not seeking a retrospective application of an SC ruling on the guidelines for the arrest. He tried to convince the court hard to change its mind and lay down principles arrest of leaders of opposition political parties.

Singhvi however failed to convince the court and withdrew the petition filed by the 14 political parties.