CBI The Ping Pong Of Indian politicians Corruption: Other day waiting at my dentist, I read an article in January 2008 issue of The Reader’s Digest titled “Gandhiji’s Last Day” by Tushar A. Gandhi, the greatgrandson of Mahatma Gandhi. I am tempted to quote from the same: “Another painful issue was growing corruption of Congressmen. Gandhiji had received a letter from a veteran freedom fighter who had written that Congress legislators were even making money by protecting criminals. ‘People have begun to say’ the letter concluded ‘that British Government was much better’…” Mahatmaji died the same evening on January 30, 1948 before he could reply that letter. For Independent India, we may say, that was the genesis of corruption in public life. It is safe to say that Congress ruled the nation without a break for almost 30 years till Morarji Desai became Prime Minister in 1977. By then corruption and criminals in politics had taken deeper roots. So let us give credit to the ruling party for the legacy of the nexus of corruption & criminals about which the veteran freedom fighter gave early warning signal to Mahatma Gandhi. Congress failed to address the deficiency in management of values so dearly nurtured and practiced by Gandhiji. The nation is sick with what I call “Value Management Deficiency Syndrome” VMD Syndrome. We continue to rue the same till today. The Mandate: Central Bureau of Investigation is a very important institution and constitutional body to safeguard the rights of the people support the judiciary and contribute significantly to the process of delivery of justice. A quick internet search takes back a reader to 1941 when CBI was established by the Govt. of India as Special Police Establishment (SPE) to assume its present avatar as CBI in 1963. The mandate was to investigate corruption among government’s public servants. Later this expanded to include almost everything criminal. Over last four decades, CBI has transformed itself into a high profile weapon of political class and is wielded effectively whenever the powers that be are threatened with uncomfortable situations involving political survival. Over last 20 years CBI has been used at the time of elections at centre as well as in state assemblies to pull out skeletons of other politicians to win brownie points more as tactical leverage. Quattrocchi has been in and out of CBI’s file at the will of the politicians. Bofors guns keep roaring or falling silent with sleight of hands of CBI. Mayawati, Mulayam Singh, L.K.Advani, Narendra Modi of current political flock have felt the heat every now and then. Advani is the only one to have been also the boss of CBI as home minister. He too has been accused of making CBI crawl on Babri Masjid.
Erosion of Values: Over last few decades CBI must have done commendable professional work behind the scene, I am sure. However, the visible outcome of all their efforts is shaped by the political interference. Filing a charge sheet can take five years and hearing can take another five years. The speed is assigned by the political masters. We have seen the recent cases of Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler. They got the clean chit from CBI just in time to be able to contest elections but were thrown out by public outrage. We can be sure the clean chit would become tainted once the government at the center changes. The timings of any actions are not a matter of coincidences. The very purpose of creation of CBI was investigation of corruption with other Add On’s. Today corruption has scaled heights surpassing the Everest. Every six months or so, we read about arrest of a DGP or DIG or such high levels in Police department. Latest is the case of CRPF scam with Rs.350 Crores in loot. Chara Ghotala, Fodder Scam is lost in the fodder of politicians. Sukhram case languished for years on. If we consider the rate of conviction of politicians as a measure of success of CBI’s functioning then the record is abysmally poor. Which means crores of public money is spent on hoodwinking public! CBI is an arm of government, read ruling party, to investigate corruption in public servants, again read opposition members. That is the reality. It is only Supreme Court which has been able to give directions to save situations from worsening frequently but that speaks a lot of poor governance by the home ministry. How can CBI be made more independent, transparent and accountable? Should it continue under home ministry or be an independent autonomous authority like Election Commission of India? Over 60 years of experience operating as a department of govt. of India has lent it more susceptibility. One can not wish away completely the influence of ruling party or who ever is influential enough. The degree of influence is directly a measure of susceptibility. We can only try to minimize the same by making channels of decision making more independent and some of them redundant too. We need to manage value systems to prevent deterioration in moral values and principles enshrined in the constitution of India. It is not abdication by top brass of CBI, but hijacking of decision making process by political forces. India today is not just world’s largest democracy but also “corruptocracy” i.e. democracy and bureaucracy mired in corruption. CBI needs to function in exemplary fashion to do justice to its mandate on core issue of corruption. Restructuring of CBI: It would be naïve to wish away the political influences completely. How can we ensure that political process provides a balance if not neutralize the biased decision making over
ruling the top brass of CBI? The only way to achieve improvement (if not total elimination) in this aspect is to pit two opposite poles against each other so they stay together. We need to explore some of the following alternative structural changes: 1. Since CBI is a constitutional body it can be made permanent and independent. CBI’s website states their motto as “IndustryImpartialityIntegrity”. These are the “values” they are supposed to uphold while delivering the process of investigation leading to justice. ‘Impartiality’ is their middle name and ‘Integrity’ their last name which are perceived to be threatened. They are a classical case of VMD syndrome. Can they function as a professional organization to uphold the values without supervision of home ministry? 2. Draw a lesson from functioning of Election Commission of India which is a constitutional body. Three CECs taking collective decisions with consensus have established a formidable reputation for the institution feared by all politicians. They are required to uphold the “Values of rights of people to elect their representatives to parliament and assemblies through free and fair elections”. They have done it with acceptable standards of governance. They have in fact brought some “law and order” in conduct of election. Since CEC can uphold the values, why not CBI? Can CBI be restructured on these lines? 3. Can CBI be supervised by a 3man Board comprising a retired Chief Justice of India, a retired Chief Election Commissioner of India and a retired Attorney General of India? This panel can ensure upholding high standards and values enshrined in the Constitution of India to reverse the degeneration of CBI. The Director of CBI can be elevated to Director General appointed by the President with full autonomy and reporting to 3man Board. 4. If politicians have to be at the helms of CBI as the home minister is, then the “Chairman” may be the ruling party nominee (i.e. home minister), along with “Dy.Chairman” a nominee of the leader of opposition. CBI director should report to Dy.Chairman. As long as both Dy. Chairman & Chairman accept the mandate and charter of CBI they can work with or without friction. Opposition members are also elected by people and equally competent and responsible to contribute in streamlining and smooth functioning of the organization. This way they can ensure that the fights are fought before decisions are made. They will not waste time of parliament & judiciary and public money on investigation for decades as has been the case of say Bofors or Delhi Sikh riots. This will minimize the chances of political bias since after next election the boot may be on the other leg. In US administration, a number of key positions are held by opposition members. I am sure over the last two decades, CBI and government would have spent more than Rs 64 Crores on Bofors case to investigate bribe of Rs 64 Crores! This is the worst case scenario.
The time has come to take drastic measures to restructure CBI and let it uphold the values enshrined in their charter for the benefit of the people of India within the constitutional framework. Let the restructuring be a tribute to the veteran freedom fighter who wrote letter to Gandhiji. Vijay M. Deshpande Corporate Advisor, Strategic Management Initiative, Pune Scroll down for my other blogs