Political Diary

New Delhi, 22 January 2019

CBI: New Inning

WILL GOVT LET GO?

By Poonam I Kaushish

The curtain finally rang down on the grotty no-holds-barred public battle royale between CBI Chief Verma and Special Director Asthana with both being shown the door by the Government. Hopefully, the Agency will get a new upright and non-controversial Director, set its house in order and begin a new innings.

Recall, Verma was reinstated by the Supreme Court last week post his midnight sack by the Modi Sarkar October end, only to be removed two days later by the high-powered selection committee, comprising the Prime Minister, Supreme Court Chief Justice  and Opposition leader.  As for Asthana a Gujarat cadre officer, the Government was left with no option as the Delhi High Court refused to quash a case of corruption lodged against him by the CBI under Verma.

Certainly, these developments have further reduced the investigative agency to a mockery. From being ‘a caged parrot’ to earning the nickname Central Bureau of Corruption, Connivance and Convenience it has been a steady downhill with the devil taking the hindmost!

Sadly, successive Governments have used it as a hand maiden to dance to its tune. A toothless tiger to help friends and settle political scores with opponents with hit-ins, clean chits, political cover-ups and fool proof surety for law enforcers to become law breakers legitimizing crime and corruption.  Thereby, raising serious doubts about its honesty and integrity of purpose to weed out the corrupt. Consequently, the system becomes self-perpetuating whereby a threatened political elite have given more and more powers to the CBI to get their way and have their say. 

Two cases in point: SP’s Mulayam Singh and BSP’s Mayawati. Whenever the Government, be it Congress’s UPA or BJP’s NDA wanted to put pressure on them, the CBI was used to ‘pursue’ cases of disproportionate assets against them. When they came around, the cases were again put in thanda baksa.

Arguably, is the CBI more sinned against than sinning?  Is the pot calling the kettle black?  The truth is mid-way.  Both work in tandem in furthering their own interest wherein the agency has adopted a brazenly opportunistic policy of playing safe with Governments of the day and its willingness and commitment to serve their mai baaps interest for post retirement lollipops. See how an ex-CBI chief was made member of the Human Rights Commission post retirement.

Paradoxically, as per the latest Lok Sabha data from 2006 to July 2016 the agency secured 68% conviction rate in corruption cases. It probed 7,000 cases, filed charge sheets in 6,533 cases, secured conviction in 4,054 cases while 2,095 cases ended in acquittal. But despite this, its credibility is zilch when dealing with high-profile cases.

Remember BJP’s Karnataka strongman Yeddyurappa was charge-sheeted for favouring mining companies in return for gratification and was forced to quit as Chief Minister in 2011 only to be let-off by the court.  But for reasons best known to it, the CBI under Modi Raj didn’t appeal against the order? Its silence says it all: dictated by political expediency.

More. There are as many as 1,300 cases pending against MPs and MLAs in various courts. These include cases being on-off investigated by CBI. Thereby, sullying the agency’s reputation, replete with its “failure” to back up charges with required evidence. 

Similarly, the CBI has a history of burying huge scams under mountains of bureaucratic red tape or putting them under the lid for a long period of time till public memory gets exhausted. Thanks to cases being registered hesitantly, searches and investigations delayed unduly, charge-sheets poorly filed, arrests scrupulously avoided and convictions rare. The Vyapan scam is history, the accused in the 2G scam were exonerated, Chidambaram’s Aircel Maxis case is progressing at snail’s pace etc.

The constant display of CBI’s non-performance in ensuring deterrent punishment to accused netas clearly erodes public trust in the criminal justice system as it has failed to establish its image to fight corruption without prejudice for which it was created in 1963. Today it has metamorphosed into a Frankenstein’s monster and is working on selective principles of applicability of law to preserve Jungle Raj within.

The crux of the issue: Who should control the CBI?  Needless to say, a Catch-22 question for our power-greedy polity to honestly answer and for us to stupidly expect. As political manipulation and internal sabotage are twin challenges that have dogged the CBI throughout its history.

What next? Prime Minister Modi has oft spoken about ushering in transparency in governance. Time he walked his talk and made the CBI independent whereby it stops being His Masters Voice and prevents abuse of power. For starters adopt a 2011 Parliamentary Standing Committee report on the “Working of the CBI” which recommended it be made an ``enforcement agency” and be given “independent and autonomous’’ status to prevent political interference in its functioning.

Another way forward is to grant the agency power to investigate and prosecute through a separate statute called the Central Bureau of Intelligence and Investigation Act. And give it the same status as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US to allow it to independently take up cases of high-tech crime. In all western democracies, investigative agencies have undergone huge and numerous makeovers and evolved over a period of time. Therefore, we need simply to set CBI free.

Predictably, this is anathema to our netagan who candidly confess that granting sanction for prosecution was one of the “bottlenecks” in giving the CBI autonomy. Brazenly, there are umpteen instances where prosecution sanction was denied underscoring that the premier investigative agency requires a drastic clean-up.

Undoubtedly the new CBI Chief has a formidable and arduous task ahead of cleansing the grimy stables, purging it of “yes men” and cleansed of backdoor instructions. He would need to behave responsibly leaving no room for suspicion and send a no-nonsense message that CBI's means business and its credibility is supreme. There is no point in initiating a biased investigation which does not guarantee a fair probe.

High time we make the investigation body a top-class outfit. Our leaders need to desist from subjecting the CBI to bureaucratic prescriptions of effecting economy in administration. India needs a sleek CBI that acts without favours and prejudice.

As the empowered committee selects the new CBI Director it needs to make sure the person is truly above board known for his honesty, expertise, integrity, competence and commitment. He should have no political affiliations, lest he be dubbed the Prime Minister’s hatchet man. His impeccable record would go a long way in establishing the credibility down the rank and file and guarantee an unbiased assessment of all cases. Thereby, bringing in the much-needed accountability to inspire confidence among a disgusted public.

Will Modi seize the moment and gather the political will to make the CBI independent? Surprise and silence his rivals by introducing the long awaited Lokpal Bill and placing CBI under Lokpal oversight in the last session of Parliament before he demits office?

At the end of the day, the powers-that-be must desist from playing havoc with the CBI. They need to answer two pointed questions: Will the CBI be guided by the law of the land only or by the Government of the day? Questionably, who will cast the first stone? Kiski laathi aur kiski bhains? The buck stops at Modi’s doorstep. ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)