Tackling corruption

WEST Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may well have been speaking on behalf of the entire Opposition with her remarks on the arrest of Hemant Soren. ‘Are we all thieves and they are all saints?’ she asked after her Jharkhand counterpart was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on corruption charges. It was in 2013, when the UPA was in power, that Justice RM Lodha of the Supreme Court described the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a caged parrot that speaks in its master’s voice. It was a telling comment on not only the misuse of probe agencies but also the culture of corruption that has permeated all levels of the government. A year later, the BJP rode to power on the promise of a crackdown. It now faces charges of co-opting the corrupt and unleashing investigation agencies on those who refuse to switch over to the ruling party.

The BJP has repeatedly denied targeting its political rivals, saying that the government is probing allegations of corruption or fraud irrespective of the allegiance of the suspects. As one Opposition leader after another faces the ED and CBI heat, fingers are being pointed at the political weaponisation of the agencies. Buttressing the allegations of biased and partisan action is the fact that 95 per cent of the cases being probed are against leaders of Opposition parties.

Probe agencies are meant to derive their legitimacy from being independent and impervious to political meddling. In a polarised political atmosphere, they must be seen as impartial. The reality presents a picture to the contrary. Condoning corruption is no one’s case — take the corrupt to task without fail. It is selective action that dilutes the fight and casts a shadow that can make victims out of suspects.