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PIL filed in SC against Bezbaruah's transfer

The repatriation of the Director of Enforcement, M K Bezbaruah, to the Delhi government as transport secretary was challenged today in the Supreme Court by way of a writ petition.

The petitioner, the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, has sought a stay on the order dated August 14 by the Centre repatriating Bezbaruah and the consequent order appointing M C Joshi as the acting director of enforcement.

The petitioner has also sought restoration of the status quo ante as prevailing on August 12 in the Enforcement Directorate.

Bezbaruah's repatriation has been challenged on the ground that the order to this effect was made for extraneous considerations, particularly the prosecution of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha and her associates on whose support the present government is dependent.

It is the petitioner's contention that by this order of abrupt removal of the present director of enforcement, the government is not only seeking to block the case against Jayalalitha and her associates but also trying to send signal to the law enforcement agencies that they must abide by the wishes of and follow the dictates of those in power and those supporting them, otherwise they would be removed.

To such an extent, the petition says, the order clearly militates against the rule of law and will eventually leave the citizens of the country at the mercy of criminals and mafia who, according to a high-power committee known as Vohra Committee, are running a parallel government in connivance with corrupt officials, bureaucrats and the law-enforcement agencies, pushing the state apparatus into irrelevance.

The Union of India through secretaries, the department of revenue, ministry of finance and the Delhi government through its chief secretary have been arrayed as respondents in the petition.

UNI

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