Supreme Court Rejects Opposition's Plea Against Alleged Misuse Of Central Probe Agencies

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (5 April) refused to entertain a plea by 14 opposition parties led by Congress, alleging arbitrary use of central probe agencies against opposition leaders and seeking guidelines for the future.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, stated that  political leaders do not enjoy any immunity higher than common citizens.

The bench also said that laying down general guidelines "without having relation to facts of a case will be dangerous”, reports Outlook.

The petition was filed by Indian National Congress (INC), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Bharat Rasthra Samithi (BRS), All Indian Trinamool Congress (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena (UBT), JMM, JD(U), Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI, Samajwadi Party, J&K National Conference.

"The problem with this petition is that you are trying to extrapolate statistics into guidelines, where the statistics only apply to politicians. But, we cannot have guidelines exclusively for politicians," the Chief Justice was quoted as saying by Livelaw.

He added, "Political leaders stand absolutely on the same standing as the citizens of the country. They do not claim a higher identity. How can there be a different set of procedure for them?".

As the top court showed reluctance in entertaining the plea, political parties' advocate A M Sighvi requested to withdraw the plea.

Accordingly, the bench dismissed the petition as withdrawn.