Coronavirus slows down probe agencies in nation

New Delhi: As the nation prepares to fight the threat of Coronavirus, an unstoppable consequence has fallen upon the central investigative agencies in the country, which have started seeing somewhat of a slow pace in their investigation process.

Several officials working with agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, the Income Tax department and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence have started seeing a slower pace of investigation as the threat of Coronavirus has reduced the functionality of courts and witnesses and accused seek alternative dates to submit for questioning.

While the corporate bigwigs like Anil Ambani of the Reliance Group, Sameer Gehlaut of Indiabulls and Kapil Wadhawan of the DHFL Group have in the last week already cited illnesses or the Coronavirus to seek a postponement of their date of summons. Ambani was initially summoned before the ED in the Yes Bank case on Monday but sought a different date citing personal reasons but he was questioned by the ED on Thursday. On the other hand, both Gehlaut and Wadhawan cited the threat of COVID-19 to ask for an alternative date.

However, this is not a phenomenon isolated to the top 1 per cent and ED officials working in different cities across the country have said that they are getting similar letters from the accused and witnesses in their respective cases. One official posted in Kolkata said that several accused had sought a postponement of the summons, citing COVID-19.

Officials from other agencies like the CBI and the I-T department have also said that their ability to proceed with their work has relatively slowed down in light of this. Another official said that because of the reduced functionality of courts across the nation, several investigating officers are unable to file petitions with respect to their cases.

Moreover, I-T employees have also sought an extension of FY20 by one month to April 30 in a letter to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman.

Some agency officials in Delhi, however, insisted that this will not hamper the ability of the probe agencies to continue with their investigations. "These things often happen in times of crisis. People start using it to evade summons. But there is also other work that investigators have to do, which is continuing as usual," he said, requesting not to be named.

However, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for the entire nation to remain at home to stop the spread of COVID-19 on Thursday night and the Centre issued advisories for Group B and C officers to work at 50 per cent capacity, this problem is expected to be amplified. But in light of the fact that the order does not apply to Group A officers (under which most investigating officers fall), one investigator said that it will be work as usual as far as the probes are concerned.