Modi has different yardsticks for BJP and opposition in graft cases: Kapil Sibal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has different yardsticks while dealing with corruption charges against BJP leaders and those in opposition who are targeted and humiliated by investigation agencies says former Union minister and senior Congress leader Kapil SibalOur judiciary too is under attack But the most worrisome aspect of this governments disdain for democracy is the way it has ensured that central investigating agencies and enforcement agencies do the governments bidding By selecting pliable officers and granting them unprecedented extensions they have used these agencies to besmirch reputations says Sibal in his book Shades of Truth A Journey DerailedOpposition leaders are targeted and humiliated by having the agencies summon them Chargesheets are not filed for years and investigations are kept pending only to tarnish images When chargesheets are filed they dont result in any conviction he saysReferring to the 2G scam case that came apart with all the accused acquitted and the Maran brothers required to face trial despite being acquitted of the charge by a CBI court of setting up a private exchange using the BSNL network Sibal says investigations are put on pause opened and reopened depending on political designs and opportunistic alliancesNo investigations are carried when diaries are seized containing names of those at the helm of affairs in the BJP who are alleged to be recipients of monies not accounted for The excuse is that diary entries are not evidence True but evidence can be collected to be corroborated by diary entries That is inconvenient for those wielding power he saysSibal a wellknown lawyer says that on this ground incriminating material found in the Birla and Sahara diaries are just not investigated because the agencies are caged captive and capitulated to dictates of their mastersThis he says also explains the protection of named persons in the Vyapam scam in which those arrested are mostly parents and students with politicians let off the hook The Uturns by both the CBI and NIA in the 2008 Malegaon blast case speak of volumesListing the cases in which the BJP allegedly turned a blind eye Sibal recalls the promise of Modi in the run up to the last Lok Sabha elections that he would deliver a scamfree India to the peopleEven now Modi backs this eloquently he repeatedly reminds India of how UPA was scamtainted However Modi turns a blind eye to the endemic corruption symbolized by the Vyapam scam and the serious allegations made against Chief Ministers of states where the BJP is in power he saysRajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje was alleged to have provided patronage to Lalit Modi Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhans name figured in the Vyapam as well as dental and medical admission test scams and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh was alleged to be part of the PDS scam he says in the 247page book brought out by Rupa PublicationsSimilarly Sibal says scams involving the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd Adanis overinvoicing of coal and electricity generation equipment Vijay Mallya and most recently Union Minister Giriraj Singh alleged land grabbing case in Patna had all been kept under the lidThe BirlaSahara bribery papers would have created a national furore in any other dispensation Surprisingly the Supreme Court buried the controversy It held that such entries have no evidential value However an investigation could have unearthed the truth behind such entries But we have no genuine attempts at investigating the matter he saysSibal also attacks the demonetisation decision of November 8 2016 which was according to him was an illthought decision merely to shock and awe instead of being a genuine effort for transformational changeCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in the headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever