DelhiChief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, JharkhandChief Minister Hemant Soren, and BiharDeputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav are under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding allegations of money laundering. All three are avoiding summons from financial investigation agencies. There are speculations that these leaders might be arrested. Kejriwal himself is an experienced officer of the Indian Revenue Service and is well-versed in income tax laws and ways to avoid them.
On the other hand, Hemant Soren and Tejashwi Yadav have experience from their fathers, Shibu Soren and Lalu Prasad Yadav, in dealing with power and being in jail. Therefore, both sons understand the stakes of power and punishment. Now, the issue is whether the Chief Ministers of powerful states can be arrested despite their support and majority in their respective assemblies.
The first fact to consider on this issue is what oath these Chief Ministers or Ministers take when assuming office. The oath includes: “I…, do swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as Chief Minister/Minister for the State and that I will do right to all manner of people without fear or favor, affection or ill-will, according to the Constitution and the law.” When they have taken an oath under the Constitution and the law, how can they avoid cooperating with constitutional investigation agencies?
However, in recent years, especially after Kejriwal came to power, Chief Ministers of various states and their allied leaders have been confronting Central investigation agencies like the ED and CBI. In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had previously arrested CBI officials through her police and now her supporters have attacked ED officials.
The Central government is led by the BJP. These three leaders are from the opposition, but they are facing serious legal cases for years. Arvind Kejriwalwas summoned by the ED thrice—on January 3rd, November 2nd, and December 21st. He dismissed all of them as “illegal” and “politically motivated.” The financial investigation agency had called him to record his statement regarding money laundering cases linked to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) policy. Kejriwal was summoned when the Supreme Court, in October 2023, directed the ED to explain why the political party, AamAadmi Party (AAP), allegedly benefiting from the alleged Delhi GST policy “scam,” had not been investigated.
In the same case, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, allies of Kejriwal’s party, are already in judicial custody. The ED had earlier claimed that leaders of the AamAadmi Party (AAP) used a sum of Rs 100 crores received as bribes from various stakeholders for their campaign in the 2022 Goa Legislative Assembly elections. It was alleged that the Delhi government’s 2021-22 Goods and Services Tax (GST) policy allowed favoritism to liquor traders by permitting monopolies, and some dealers who allegedly paid bribes were favored, an accusation repeatedly refuted by AAP. Later, the policy was revoked, and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi recommended a CBI investigation, following which the ED filed the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Jharkhand’s Chief Minister Hemant Soren is also within the scope of the ED’s investigation in several cases. Some of these include the “land scam” and cases related to corruption associated with benefits of position. According to reports, he is also under investigation in connection with an allegation involving a Maoist, where his group was accused of providing protection money to close individuals of the Chief Minister. On January 3rd, raids were conducted against Soren’s associates in illegal mining and money laundering cases.
Searches were carried out at more than 10 locations, including the residence of Hemant Soren’s press advisor Abhishek Prasad and the residence of Hazaribagh’s Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajendra Dube. Earlier, the ED had issued a fresh summons to Hemant Soren for questioning in connection with the alleged land scam. This was the seventh summons under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, requiring him to appear before the agency and record his statement regarding the
alleged scam. Similar to Kejriwal, Soren also dismissed all seven summons by central agencies as aimed at destabilizing the democratically elected government led by the BJP at the Centre.
There are speculations that both former chief ministers could be arrested. Arvind Kejriwal’s party had recently begun a door-to-door campaign to find an answer to this question: “Should Arvind Kejriwal resign, or should he work from jail if arrested?”
The Enforcement Directorate can consider the arrest of Soren without any pretense. The report stated that questioning Soren is crucial for the investigation and emphasized that his appeals against the summons had been dismissed by the High Court and the Supreme Court. In the eyes of the law, every Indian citizen is equal.
Chief Ministers are not exempt from arrest during their tenure. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973 (CRPC), a law enforcement agency can arrest any individual against whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the court. A chief minister can only be arrested if there are sufficient grounds to believe that the accused will flee, attempt to destroy evidence, or evade legal proceedings.
Moreover, a chief minister can only be removed from office if found guilty in a case. During an investigation, there is no legal prohibition on a CM holding office. According to the law, only the President of India and Governors of states are granted protection from arrest or detention in both civil and criminal matters while in office. Article 361 of the Constitution of India in 1949 states, “No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted against the President or the Governor of a State while they are in office.”
The Supreme Court had previously said in an order that governors can act independently without the advice and aid of the council of ministers while considering filing cases against cabinet members and chief ministers. It was stated that in deciding whether to grant permission to prosecute a chief minister, the governor would exercise their discretion rather than seeking assistance and advice from the council of ministers. This was mentioned in a 2004 court order.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Delhi’s Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav for questioning on January 5th, but Tejashwi expressed his inability to attend. He didn’t appear before the ED, citing prior commitments related to Bihar government programs. Earlier, on December 22nd and December 27th, 2023, Tejashwi Yadav was also called for questioning along with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, but neither of them went to Delhi after being summoned by the ED.
Doesn’t this mean that the general public is being encouraged to break the law?