Opposition MPs peacefully marching towards the office of the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday ran into multi-layered barricades and a massive deployment of police and paramilitary forces.

The line-up demonstrated to the world the iron fist of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi portrays as the “mother of democracy”, ironically highlighting what Rahul Gandhi has been underscoring and for which the government has been demanding an apology from him.

The MPs raised slogans in protest, wondering if the freedom to register a complaint had been abolished.

“There are 2,000 policemen to block 200 MPs walking peacefully to the ED office. Is this how you crush the Opposition’s voice in a democracy? And you can’t talk about democracy being in peril at seminars and conferences? Everybody can see what’s happening here,” said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after being stopped outside Parliament House.

The Opposition leaders were demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the allegations of fraud against the Adani group.

The leaders were stopped near Vijay Chowk in Lutyens’ Delhi by police who announced over loudspeakers that CrPC Section 144, which prohibits the assembly of four or more people, was in effect in the area.

Security personnel deployed during the march of Opposition MPs in New Delhi on Wednesday PTI picture

The frequent crackdown on MPs, with them being blocked on the roads or their speeches expunged in Parliament, has begged the question whether such action defames India’s democracy or Rahul talking about these restrictions on freedom of expression in his academic discussions outside the country.

MPs from 16 parties freely gave voice to their frustration, alleging that Prime Minister Modi showed zero tolerance when questions were raised against him and his friends. They said the massive resistance mounted against the Opposition campaign, the denial of investigations into the Adani affairs and the counter-offensive by the ruling party were designed to protect one businessman.

Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh went so far as to claim that Modi wanted to create a controlled regime like Russia and China.

This is not the first time in the recent past that Opposition MPs have been stopped just outside Parliament premises, sending out an unambiguous message to the world that the right to protest is being curbed by the government. While MPs were not allowed to walk barely a kilometre to submit a memorandum on price rise to Rashtrapati Bhavan, Congress leaders and workers were repeatedly prevented from stepping out of the party headquarters to show solidarity with their leader Rahul when he was being grilled by the ED in the National Herald case last year.

The MPs, carrying multiple placards on Wednesday, described the allegations against the Adani group as “the Prime Minister’s friend’s scam”. One placard said, “Jaanch se bhag rahi hai Sarkar/ Ghotalebaaz hai Chowkidar (The government is avoiding a probe, the chowkidar is corrupt)”, marking the return of direct attacks on the Prime Minister.

Another said: “Janata ke paise ki loot/ Adani ko khulli chhut (People’s money is looted, a free hand to Adani)”. Other placards said “Modi-Adani mein yaari hai/ Paise ki loot jaari hai (Modi and Adani are friends, a loot of people’s money is on)” and “Adani se kar ke pyaar/ Desh bech raha Chowkidar (The chowkidar is selling the country for Adani)”

Most MPs asked if the government existed to facilitate loot by Adani and to defend the conglomerate when wrongdoings got exposed. Describing it as the biggest scam in independent India, they said Modi did not want any discussion on the Adani affair in Parliament, in the media or on the streets. Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury said: “If the government accepts a JPC (joint parliamentary committee probe), the real face of the BJP and Modi will come out before the people. That’s why they are using all their might to block the investigation.”

Before returning to Parliament after a commotion on the road for around 30 minutes, Kharge said: “One businessman made lakhs of crores in a few years. How did it happen, who helped him? Why is the people’s money being given to him by the SBI and the LIC to buy national assets built over seven decades? What is the relationship between Adani and Modi? Shouldn’t we ask these questions? Why is the Prime Minister suppressing our voice instead of accepting the JPC?” When the MPs wanted to proceed in a group of four as Section 144 was in place, the police said the ED director did not want to meet the leaders. The Opposition leaders then mailed the letter to ED director Sanjay Mishra, who has been given multiple extensions by the Modi government. The letter was signed by 16 parties that included the Samajwadi Party, BRS and the AAP but not the Trinamul Congress.

The letter said: “Over the last three months, several crucial pieces of evidence have been made available against the Adani Group in the public domain. Yet, the Enforcement Directorate, which claims to pursue such cases with vigour and fairness, has yet to launch even a preliminary enquiry into these very serious charges. As a result, we are constrained to file this official complaint so that the ED is compelled to investigate a relationship that has serious implications not just for our economy but most importantly, our democracy.”

It added: “This case involves serious and far-reaching charges of corporate fraud, political corruption, stock-price manipulation through fraudulent means, and the misuse/ monopolisation of public resources to benefit a single corporate group.” Summarising the main facts, the letter said: “The Adani Group companies are accused of having established a network of offshore shell companies and offshore funds controlled by parties related to the Adani Group for the purposes of artificially inflating stock valuations; and to give a distorted picture with regard to the group companies’ financial health.

Data available in the public domain actively lists 38 Mauritius shell entities controlled by the Adani group through Vinod Adani (Gautam Adani’s brother) or close associates; as well as other entities in Cyprus, the UAE, Singapore, and several Caribbean Islands.”

The letter added: “What makes matters worse and establishes a clear causal link between these offshore entities and Adani’s Indian companies, is that Gautam Adani’s brother Vinod Adani, along with his associates, is alleged to be the person crucial to setting up these networks. The detailed nature of transactions which reveal such a link is now available in the public domain. These actions are also patently illegal since they violate the basic rule that at least 25% of free float be held by non-promoter entities.”

The Opposition parties pointed out that the Adani group companies had lent significant amounts of money to the firm AdiCorp, whose financials did not support the lending of such a large sum. They alleged that AdiCorp then funnelled the vast majority of the loaned amount to Adani Power. This transaction alone merits serious scrutiny and explicit details of the deal are available in the public domain, the Opposition said.

“This is just one select example to highlight the brazenness with which the group in question operates. We have several such examples, all taken from data available in the public domain, that we can share with the ED in case it finds itself unable to do so,” the letter said.

The Opposition parties mentioned the seizure of 3,000kg of drugs from the Adani-owned Mundra Port in Gujarat and improper political influence to obtain concessions and contracts from governments and regulated entities, citing examples from over 85 questions so far asked by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, none of which has been answered by the Modi government.