Context: This paper was written by myself for an interschool conference (one of the toughest interschool conferences in the country) as part of my school's Model UN delegation (competing team, FYI). I won 2nd Best Delegate, and my school ended up winning the championship for the second time in a row.
(Fun fact: The only two years I was on the school team were the only two years we won back-to-back!)
[Name: Rahul Gandhi
Party: Indian National Congress
Committee: All India Political Parties Meet
Designation: MP – Wayanad, Rae Bareli; LoP – Designate
Agenda: Evaluating the Misuse of Central Investigative Agencies for Disruptive Purposes
Alliance: INDIA]
'"In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."
– Franklin Delano Roosevelt
In this era, we see the rise of many trends in the societies we live with. But sometimes, we witness a specimen of trends that seem to increase exponentially, the foremost being the advent of current government using the independent investigative bodies of India as puppets to promote their wishes.
With the advent of such developments, the international community maintains its reservations about the ‘attested’ state of democracy in India, owing to the implication that refers to the gradual erosion of democracy, i.e. the common fabric which unites North and South, fades.
With this searing backdrop in mind, we would like to bifurcate this agenda into two broad straits, each symbolizing the effects of politicizing investigative agencies (primary agencies such as the CBI and ED, and secondary agencies and ministries that act as an extension of these agencies such as the various tax and income departments):
1)
The economic implications:
The potential transformation of India into a regime like
China provides a horrible environment for businesses to operate in. With the uncovering of the electoral
bonds scam, the credibility of the business sector in our country is
greatly questioned with many examples proving to the world that investigative
agencies are mere ghosts under the BJP, with more than 11 other companies
having been raided by the ED and income tax departments and being imprisoned
after which these companies pay for electoral bonds worth of billions of rupees
and as a result, either get numerous government contracts or are pardoned and
their cases closed. This not only affects our global image but impacts
our chances of obtaining foreign
direct investment, all because the BJP wishes to gain more
money to burn on its political campaigns.
2)
The political implications:
Investigative agencies have forced various sitting ministers of parliament and legislative assemblies to switch parties facilitated via bribes and threats. This kind of Horse Trading is used in many cases. Politicians like Ashok Chavan who have been accused of the most heinous of crimes and has even been denigrated by the prime minister himself appears a decade later to receive a party ticket from the same party that so denounced him for his role in the Adarsh Housing scam. The particularity of the CBI and the ED can be shown in these statistics:
●
From 2014, 25
opposition leaders who have been under the scanner for corruption charges have joined the BJP, and 23 of them have gotten their
cases closed and have
been set free.
●
In the 2024 elections, out of the 417 seats the BJP is contesting in, 37 of these
snollygosters were originally from the INC.
● From 2014, the ED has investigated 121 politicians, 115 being from the opposition, are arrested under the amendment of the PMLA passed in 2019.
And yet, as a proponent of peace and national unity, we would like to propose some measures to solve these issues before we open the metaphorical Pandora’s box:
1)
Via a constitutional amendment, the provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 2003 will be repealed in order to promote
free speech in news agencies and prevent flimsy excuses for ED and income tax
raids on dissenting papers.
2)
Transitioning the
independence of investigative agencies to a more neutral stance, with a
fundamental provision which cannot be changed. A proposed amendment from the
Congress would be to maintain investigative agencies as a semi-autonomous
organization, partially directed by a special advisory committee composed of 10
members from the Union government, 10 members from the opposition cabinet, and all 32 Supreme Court justices which would
approve or reject proposed raids on organizations.
3)
Enact the legal principle
‘bail is the rule, jail is the exception’ as a formal deemed law and prevent
the weaponization of laws by investigative agencies
by amending the PMLA
act and other such laws in order to give the accused a chance to prove their
innocence.
We as a party acknowledge the uphill battle that is set before (especially with a dictatorship set up against us). Still, we realize that with the unity of the INDIA bloc, there is no end to how we can develop the nation together.
Bibliography:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/electoral-bond-future- gaming-biggest-donor-to-tmc-dmk-ysrcp/articleshow/108859613.cms?from=mdr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOjthKqDlFg
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/122-sitting-ex-legislators-facing-laundering-ca ses-ed-tells-sc/articleshow/85196602.cms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJfqzUWZ0Bw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y860YJVuQOo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7k08t2pD3E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyJd111Ym7U&t=547s
https://www.thenewsminute.com/long-form/scores-of-companies-raided-by-central-age ncies-bought-electoral-bonds
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