Law-violators must be ready to face punishment. But, they often get a long rope in the Indian justice-dispensation systems. While Parliament and state legislatures keep passing laws by the hour, like a production line, a stage has come when several laws are in conflict with each other. Add to this the piling up of crores of cases for unending years – a situation also compounded by the failure to fill the posts in the judiciary at regular intervals. Investigation agencies are generally on a merry-go-round. Influence matters. Under these circumstances, the National Herald Case, that was first filed 10 years ago by Subramanian Swamy targeting mainly the Nehru-Gandhi family, has not reached anywhere. It is unlikely that, despite the current activism by the Enforcement Directorate, it will reach a fair conclusion in the lifetime, at least, of Sonia Gandhi. If a Congress government returns to power, the whole case might be turned upside down.
National Herald was started by Jawaharlal Nehru with over 5,000 freedom fighters including him as the company’s shareholders in 1938. What came to be known as the Associate Journals Ltd, with a string of other journals too, suspended publications in 2008 due to piling debts of nearly Rs 100 crore. Two years later, the entity went into the hands of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, who turned it into a family enterprise called Young India Pvt Ltd. While the AJL company reportedly had assets worth Rs 2,000 crore, the ownership got transferred for a song. In between, issues of money laundering related to the acquisition cropped up. This formed the basis for the ED questioning Rahul Gandhi, which will be followed by questioning of Sonia Gandhi.
Before law, no one is a sacred crow. Law is equal for one and all, at least in concept. In practice, this is not so. The high and mighty or those close to the seat of power get away with their acts. Exceptions were a Bangaru Lakshman, a George Fernandes and a Lalu Prasad. They went to jail. They were found to be guilty also as they could not stall the course of justice. Several such cases are pending against top politicians who in general have a hand-in-the-honeypot approach to public life. The age of ideology is over. It is the craze for money and wealth that guides many of them today. Law-violations by all and sundry is commonplace while the establishment is in a slumber. But this does not mean the Gandhis should not be questioned or their actions not be investigated.
