Arindam Chaudhuri
If the country’s premier probe agency
has to be released from all-pervasive political interference, it has to
be made an independent, constitutional authority. Else, it will always
be manipulated by the ruling party
Have you ever wondered why a Mulayam or a Mayawati is ready to extend
the olive branch to the UPA from time to time? Or why DMK chief M
Karunanidhi, despite going through utter humiliation, ends up standing
behind the UPA? Or how the UPA manages everyone so smoothly, except West
Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee?
The answer is in the Union Government’s manipulative control over the
CBI, which can be used to blackmail anyone with any kind of shady
dealing and existing CBI investigation. And given that most of our
political leaders are corrupt, they can all be manipulated, minus rare
exceptions like Ms Banerjee.
Let’s start with UPA’s biggest problem, YSR Congress president YS
Jaganmohan Reddy. He accused the Congress of using the CBI to harass its
political opponents. Sakshi TV channel owned by Ms YS Bharati, wife of
Mr Reddy, aired an hour-long programme defaming Congress chief Sonia
Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi. Following that, the CBI accused Mr
Reddy of having disproportionate assets and charged him under multiple
sections. All Government advertisements to Sakshi TV was stopped.
Similar was the case with Uttar Pradesh’s former Chief Minister Mayawati. After getting a clean chit in the Taj Heritage Corridor case in 2007, Ms Mayawati accused the UPA Government of using the CBI to drag her in the disproportionate assets case as revenge for her withdrawing support to the UPA.
Similarly, when the Sohrabuddin case came under CBI investigation, the UPA used the Bureau as a tool to harass the incumbent Government in Gujarat. This was evident from the series of sting operations conducted by various news channels. Even IPS officer Geeta Johri alleged in August 2010 that the CBI, during the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case investigation, pressurised her to falsely implicate former Gujarat Minister Amit Shah to harass the BJP-led Government.
On the other hand, CBI is regularly manipulated to dilute cases filed against the Government. In its charge-sheet the CBI claimed that one Jasbir Singh, who is supposed to have heard Congress leader Jagdish Tytler inciting a mob to kill Sikhs during the 1984 riots, could not be examined as his whereabouts couldn’t be traced. The CBI’s claim was falsified when the media telephonically located Mr Singh.
After the case was ordered to be re-investigated by the court, the CBI reportedly submitted that Mr Singh’s testimony cannot be relied upon and asked the court to close the case. The entire incident happened to save Mr Tytler, who has close ties with the ruling Government.
Similarly, the CBI tried to save Mr Sajjan Kumar; he too has close ties with the UPA. Interestingly, despite the fact that the High Court ordered the CBI to probe the Rs 5,700 crore NRHM scam, nothing much was done until just a few months before the Uttar Pradesh election. All charges were suddenly dropped, and all cases against Ms Mayawati buried, after she lost the UP polls. The CBI said that it had made a “grave error” while calculating the assets of Ms Mayawati. In return, the harassed erstwhile Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister supported the UPA in Uttarakhand and also backed UPA’s presidential nominee.
These cases make clear that the Government uses the CBI at will to harass or exonerate anyone it wants to please. Since the CBI is run by bureaucrats who report to the Prime Minister and given that they are all eager to please, it becomes easy to manipulate the agency. This is in dark contrast to what it was supposed to be — an independent and politically-neutral body.
The CBI was established in April, 1963. But till date, no law to govern the Bureau has been drafted. Instead, it’s being managed through the obsolete Delhi Special Police Establishment Act — that itself needs an overhaul —which allows complete Government control over the Bureau. This is despite the fact that the CBI has already drafted the Central Bureau of Investigation Act, 2010, seeking freedom from the DSPE Act. In November 2006, former CBI joint director BR Lall made public his official letters to show how the CBI’s functioning is manipulated by politicians. Similarly, Mr Joginder Singh, another former CBI head, has also been critical of the CBI. Mr NK Singh, another former joint director of CBI, has claimed that political interference is all pervasive.
When an organisation is used to such manipulation at every stage, it then tries to manipulate on its own too. RTI activist Manish Bhatnagar, claimed he was harassed from the moment he filed an RTI seeking information on the CBI director. And now, the Cabinet has passed a decision which keeps the CBI out of the RTI ambit.
Given the above situation, it is a must that the CBI be made an independent constitutional authority so that CBI directors, like our recent Election Commissioners and CAGs, become household examples in honesty and are appreciated for their genuine efforts in removing corruption, instead of becoming bureaucrats who end up abetting corruption.
Author is a Management Guru and Hony Director of IIPM Think Tank.
Courtesy : The Pioneer
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