In its obsession with Mrs. Gandhi, the Janata government has completely lost its balance. Else it would never have done anything so ridiculous as to send income-tax officials armed with special metal detectors to her farm house near Delhi in search of non-existent treasures there. The action violates every norm of decency and fair play, decency because democratic governments in possession of their senses do not organise raids on the premises of former Prime Ministers unless they have incontrovertible proof of wrong-doing on the part of the latter and fair play because the action amounts to persecution of Mrs. Gandhi who, as it is, is to be tried on specific charges. Those who ordered the raid must be bereft of not only political sense but also common sense. Political sense because the raid comes in the wake of her controversial imprisonment and expulsion from the Lok Sabha on the charge of contempt of the House and as such cannot but confirm the widespread impression that the Janata leaders will not spare any effort to get her. This has won her sympathy in the past; and is bound to do so now. And common sense because those who assume that Mrs. Gandhi is so corrupt as to have accumulated vast personal fortunes during her tenure of office as Prime Minister should
normally be expected to have the intelligence to recognise that her farm house is the last place she would have buried these in. Having tried its best for 22 long months to lay its hand on these alleged fortunes, and having failed to find anything mentionable or unmentionable, the Janata government had especially good reason to be cautious. But a capacity for calculation and discretion does not seem to be its strong point. The sequence of events is also bizarre. One village pradhan makes a statement that Mrs. Gandhi had buried a treasure trove under the house during the emergency. One of the country’s national news agencies puts out this canard without even asking itself the simple question whether during the emergency itself Mrs. Gandhi had come to realise that her days in office were numbered and whether at the height of her power she was so helpless as to behave like a village shopkeeper who has nowhere else to hide his wealth than under the floor of his house or in some dark and dingy comer in it.
The whole episode is disgusting beyond words. It cannot be explained away in terms of Mrs. Gandhi’s actions during the emergency when she, too, can be said to have recognised no norms in such matters and considered no one’s reputation good enough to be spared. For one thing the present government claims to respect the rule of law which she did not during the emergency. For another she did not organise raids on the houses of fellow political leaders. That apart, what kind of atmosphere are we busy creating when everyone, including the present Prime Minister, and the former Prime Minister, is assumed to be guilty unless he or she can prove that he or she is innocent? Surely this is not an atmosphere in which democratic institutions can prosper.
The Times of India, 22 January 1979