{
 "no": 22,
 "id": "case-22",
 "sk": 20220727,
 "year": 2022,
 "date": "2022 onward",
 "cat": "Democratic institutions",
 "sev": "amber",
 "title": "The ED as a political weapon (alleged)",
 "stamp": "Alleged misuse. Bail near impossible.",
 "human": {
  "v": "Opposition leaders arrested and jailed for long spells before any conviction",
  "est": true
 },
 "cost": {
  "v": "A watchdog widely accused of working to a political calendar",
  "est": true
 },
 "what": "The Enforcement Directorate's powers under the money-laundering law were widened and, after a 2022 Supreme Court ruling, hardened, with a near-impossible bail bar and sweeping arrest and attachment powers.",
 "dodge": "Reporting and opposition tallies point to the overwhelming share of high-profile cases falling on opposition figures, often clustering around elections, while conviction rates stay strikingly low. Arrests and asset freezes land long before, and often without, any conviction, so the process itself becomes the punishment and the deterrent.",
 "ministers": [
  {
   "n": "Union Finance Ministry / Home Ministry",
   "r": "Oversight of the agencies"
  }
 ],
 "pos": "The government insists the agencies act only on evidence and that courts have upheld the law.",
 "alleg": "The claim of election-timed, opposition-targeted misuse is a <em>contested allegation</em> from the opposition and some reporting; courts have upheld parts of the regime while flagging concerns in specific cases.",
 "alt": "Restore proportionate bail, require prior judicial sign-off for arrest and attachment, publish case data, and put an independent check on the agency.",
 "sources": [
  {
   "label": "Supreme Court, Vijay Madanlal Choudhary (2022)",
   "url": "https://indiankanoon.org/doc/14485072/",
   "tier": 1,
   "archiveUrl": "http://web.archive.org/web/20260409045334/https://indiankanoon.org/doc/14485072/"
  },
  {
   "label": "Indian Express count of ED cases by party, 2014-22",
   "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/express-exclusive/since-2014-4-fold-jump-in-ed-cases-against-politicians-95-per-cent-are-from-opposition-8163060/",
   "tier": 2,
   "archiveUrl": "http://web.archive.org/web/20260402222258/https://indianexpress.com/article/express-exclusive/since-2014-4-fold-jump-in-ed-cases-against-politicians-95-per-cent-are-from-opposition-8163060/"
  }
 ],
 "caseUrl": "https://whoisresponsible.xyz/case/case-22/"
}