AA Edit | Kejriwal's arrest on eve of LS election looks ill-timed

The arrest of Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate is historic in that he is the first sitting chief minister to suffer this fate at the hands of a Central agency. There is no knowing if, in this kind of uncharted territory, any constitutional provisions have been breached though the arrest itself carries the message that no one is above the law.

J. Jayalalithaa was arrested more than once when she was the sitting chief minister of Tamil Nadu and suffered great indignities in the process.  Lalu Prasad Yadav had resigned the CM’s post in Bihar in 1997, moved his wife into the gaddi and awaited his conviction in the case of an elected representative putting his hand in the till.  It is less clear in the case of Mr Kejriwal if it can be proved beyond doubt that he did something similar in fund raising for his party for fighting elections.

His arrest comes on top of five months of continuing drama as the Enforcement Directorate, strong arm of the Centre known to do its master’s bidding, served him summons after summons and the Delhi CM kept ignoring them on the premise that they were illegal because they were politically inspired and that he had reason to feel apprehensive about being arrested.

Studious ignoring of an official summons to appear for questioning is not an option for any ordinary citizen of the country. However, it does not always appear as if politicians live by the same laws that apply to all Indians.

The implications of his arrest are, however, far graver than the granular details of the policy-fixing in excise on liquor, which anyway is the fount of much evil in terms of being a money spinner for politicians and their parties.

The politics surrounding the hunt for a top elected representative was of the kind that could influence the far wider electoral scene as the polls to the 18th Lok Sabha are almost upon us. The Opposition, naturally enough, sees this as witch-hunting brought to a convenient climax in the poll season whereas two other AAP honchos have been in jail for considerable periods of time in the same excise policy case.

Doubts arise in the concerted action against the AAP if only because the investigating agency’s record so far does not speak very highly of its gathering of evidence standing up in the highest courts though the CBI and ED had brought to book the likes of Ms Jayalalithaa’s confidante and aide Sasikala, besides Lalu Yadav and kin. Also, conspiracies hatched to defraud the exchequer are very hard to prove forensically in court.

To say he would be chief minister even if he is incarcerated in Tihar Jail is the kind of devious argument that breaches the morality code as common sense has it that in the case of anyone in public office facing prosecution must be absolved legally of the charges before he can sit with authority in his post. This says more of the herd mentality that drives politicians to follow charismatic leaders to the extent of hero-worshipping them.

At a time of deep polarisation already existing in the country even before the poll bugle was sounded, it is the timing of Mr Kejriwal’s arrest that sends disruptive signals even if it is assumed that the guilt of all the parties involved in the excise policy change, which was abruptly withdrawn in Delhi, can be established by the Central investigating authorities.