New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for what it described as attempts to “fight political battles” through legal proceedings, issuing strong observations in two separate matters – one involving an appeal against relief granted to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife in the MUDA case.
The Supreme Court was hearing the ED’s appeal challenging a Karnataka High Court order that had quashed money laundering proceedings against BM Parvathi, wife of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Karnataka Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh. Chief Justice BR Gavai questioned the agency’s move to appeal despite concurrent findings by the lower court and the High Court. “You know very well that the single judge upheld the trial court order,” Justice Gavai said, asking, “Let political battles be fought among the electorate. Why are you being used for it?”
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the ED, offered to withdraw the appeal but requested that it not be treated as a precedent. The Chief Justice responded by saying, “We do not find any error in reasoning adopted in the approach of the single judge. In the peculiar facts and circumstances, we dismiss it. We should thank you, ASG, for saving some harsh comments.” The Supreme Court also took up a suo motu matter concerning the ED’s summons to senior advocates for legal advice given to clients, with intervention applications filed by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA), Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), In-House Lawyers Association, and other legal bodies.
Senior Advocate Vikas Singh told the bench that the ED’s actions had a “chilling effect” on the legal profession. Referring to international examples, he said, “We saw in Turkey that the entire bar association was disbanded. We also saw something like this in China. We should not go in this direction. Some guidelines must be laid down.
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