Baghel writes to PM Modi over ‘politically motivated’ I-T raids

BAGHEL ALLEGED THAT THE RAIDS COINCIDED WITH STATE GOVT’S INVESTIGATION INTO ACTS OF CORRUPTION UNDER THE PREVIOUS BJP GOVERNMENT

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over what he called ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘politically motivated’ incometax (I-T) raids in the Congressruled state.

Baghel alleged that the ongoing I-T raids, which began on February 27, coincided with the criminal investigation initiated by the state into acts of corruption under the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

I-T officials have raided the residential premises of senior bureaucrats and Congress politicians.

On Monday, the residence of the deputy secretary in the chief minister’s office, Saumya Chaurasia, was searched in Bhilai on charges of tax evasion. Chaurasia is a Chhattisgarh Administrative Service official.

In the letter to Modi, of which HT has a copy, Baghel termed the ongoing raids as an “affront to the idea of cooperative federalism” that reflect “coercive and insecure centrism”.

“The actions of agencies of the Union government border on political vendetta on one hand and threaten the core of our democracy on the other, for, as a former CM, you should agree that law and order is the state subject and central forces cannot be deployed [in the state] without the consent of the state government,” he wrote.

“If each one of us fails to adhere to this cardinal principal of constitutional democracy, then we would become an undemocratic anarchy,” he added in the letter.

“The Centre’s deployment of a central force to assist in motivated income-tax raids undermines every word of Dr Ambedkar’s caveat and the constitution scheme laid out in List II of the seventh schedule of the Constitution,” Baghel said.

“I take this opportunity to reiterate the availability of the police machinery or any other assistance in the quest to find and prosecute the corrupt,” the chief minister added in his letter.

Reacting to Baghel’s letter, BJP spokesperson, Gauri Shankar Shrivas said that these are routine raids conducted by the I-T department, which has nothing to do politics .

“Why is the Congress rattled by the raids? These are routine and were conducted during the BJP rule as well,” Shrivas said on Monday.