CM Siddaramaiah calls chargesheet against Sonia, Rahul vindictive politics of Modi-Shah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday termed the ED's filing of a charge sheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in an alleged money laundering case as vindictive politics by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
He said the Centre's act showed that it will not tolerate dissent by those who believe in democracy.
"Enforcement Directorate (ED) filing a chargesheet against senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi — who have always posed a formidable challenge to the Union Government — is yet another chapter in the vindictive politics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah," Siddaramaiah alleged in a statement.
This is not merely an act of retribution against two leaders of the Congress party but a clear warning by the Modi Government to opposition parties and all citizens who believe in democracy that dissent will not be tolerated, he alleged.
Siddaramaiah said the Congress party, which has consistently faced such politics of hatred, will once again respond with the strength of truth and justice.
"The Modi-led Government has long been misusing the ED — a supposedly autonomous investigative agency — as a political weapon to target opposition leaders. In the latest instance, it has invoked baseless allegations of financial irregularities in the National Herald case to continue its campaign of political vendetta," the Chief Minister alleged.
It is evident that this action is being carried out under the direct instructions of Modi and Shah, he charged.
"The ED, which repeatedly harassed and mentally pressured senior Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi under the guise of investigation, has now resorted to filing a chargesheet based entirely on fabricated narratives, after failing to find any evidence," Siddaramaiah said.
Accordng to him, every Congress worker will take to the streets to protest this authoritarianism.
Stating that harassment by the investigation agency was not only a party's issue Siddaramaiah called upon every citizen who believes in democratic values to stand with the Congress.
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High courts upheld only 8 per cent of death sentences; SC confirms none in recent years: Report
New Delhi (PTI): Highlighting that a high acquittal rate of death row convicts by the Supreme Court and high courts demonstrates a pattern of "erroneous or unjustified convictions", a study of 10 years of death penalty data has revealed that the top court did not confirm any death sentences in recent years.
The study by Square Circle Clinic, a criminal laws advocacy group with the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, found that an overwhelming majority of death sentences imposed by trial courts did not withstand scrutiny at higher judicial levels. Acquittals far outnumbered confirmations at both the high courts and Supreme Court levels.
According to the report, the trial courts across India awarded 1,310 death sentences in 822 cases between 2016 and 2025. High courts considered 842 of these sentences in confirmation proceedings but upheld only 70 or 8.31 per cent.
In contrast, 258 death sentences (30.64 per cent) resulted in acquittals. The study noted that the acquittal rate at the high court level was nearly four times the confirmation rate.
Data showed that of the 70 death sentences confirmed by high courts, the Supreme Court decided 38 and did not uphold a single one. The apex court has confirmed no death sentences between 2023 and 2025.
"Wrongful or erroneous or unjustified convictions, then, are not random or freak accidents in the Indian criminal justice system. The data indicates they are a persistent and serious systemic concern," the report said.
Over the last decade, high courts adjudicated 1,085 death sentences in 647 cases, confirming only 106 (9.77 per cent). During this period, 326 persons in 191 cases, were acquitted.
The report attributed low confirmation rates to the appellate judiciary’s concerns regarding failures in due process. "This coincides with increased Supreme Court scrutiny of safeguards at the sentencing stage," the report said.
Of the 153 death sentences decided by the apex court over the last decade, the accused were acquitted in 38 cases. In 2025 alone, high courts overturned death sentences into acquittals in 22 out of 85 cases (over 25 per cent). The same year, Supreme Court acquitted accused persons in more than half of the death penalty cases it decided (10 out of 19), the report said.
The study highlighted that 364 persons who were ultimately acquitted "should not even have been convicted and unjustifiably suffered the trauma of death row". It added that such failures extend beyond adjudication and reflect serious lapses in investigation and prosecution.
The question of remedies for wrongful convictions remains pending before the Supreme Court. In September 2025, three persons acquitted by the apex court filed writ petitions seeking compensation from the state and argued that their wrongful convictions violated their fundamental right to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
"In 2022, the Supreme Court crystallised a sentencing process in Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh , and mandated all courts to follow those guidelines before imposing or confirming a death sentence," the report read.
In 2025, the apex court held in Vasanta Sampat Dupare v. Union of India that death penalty sentencing hearings form part of the right to a fair trial and stressed that capital punishment can be imposed only after a constitutionally compliant sentencing process.
"However, even at the high courts whether the process mandated under Manoj is being complied with is in doubt,” the report said.
