We are creating a whole new paradigm of irrational and unlawful decision-making it seems. The NSEL payment default case unravelled in 2013 and since then a number of people have been called to the interrogation table and a number of theories have conspired. What is baffling is that amidst all the recourses being opted, the actual defaulters are still running free.
Meanwhile, in the name of public welfare, the government is trying to overstep its own purview of power by suggesting outrageous mergers while the law enforcement agencies like ED are pulling stunts that rock the foundations of the legal framework.
In a recent event, Jignesh Shah, promoter of FTIL and Exchange Man of India, was called to interrogation by the ED, detained illegally and arrested thereafter. It is blatant violation of the PMLA basis a well-known precedent set by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that no agency can go ahead with an arrest under section 19 of the concerned act once a court has taken cognizance of the case but apparently, ED feels it can bypass the intricacies of the law when need arises.
While usually it requires a warrant in the post cognizance stage to make an arrest, the law enforcement agency, functioning under and at the behest of Ministry of Finance, found it natural to disregard the course of law.
To sum up the disbelief it has caused in the legal fraternity, the words of senior advocate and RajyaSabha member, KTS Tulsi, suffice, ““The money trail has not been established, and the ED has not submitted any fresh evidence, they cannot force an accused to accept allegations.”
Another very relevant question that comes to mind while grasping the case proceeding is why the government is not aiming at the real targets? What can be the possible reasons for the hiccups, often observed by those in the game? Whatever it may be, the modus operandusof going after the softer targets is unlikely to sustain in the longer term.