Investigative Agencies and Their Hyperactivism

Arguably, as a matter of procedures, the investigative agencies have to be active on an everyday basis and have to be vigilant and alert in detecting the cases of economic irregularities committed by different entities. It seems that these agencies become overactive only at the instance of the union government in power. The union government seems to be hyperconscious about financial irregularities and hence seem to have put central investigative agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a rather hyperactive mode. There are two interrelated angles to understand this hyperactivism. First, it presents itself as an exercise in cleaning the governance of the country of corrupt practices. The subtext of this activism is viewed as an attempt to debilitate the opposition by the ruling party at the union, thereby eliminating the potential challenge in the elections.

The other angle of the issue is the political parties that do not seem to object to those political leaders who are in a great hurry to make quick money and are given to amassing asset which, indeed, are disproportionate to their known sources of income. Investigative agencies’ hyperactivism appears to be a more pragmatic function; therefore, to bring the politicians in question down to their knees. For those who have already been in power for a long time, politics helps them to consolidate their economic power, but for the newcomers, it is an opportunity to acquire and accumulate.