The CBI, and its lengthy list of controversies

The Central Bureau of Investigation — India’s premier investigation agency — boasts of a commanding 68 per cent conviction record in graft cases registered since 2006. Sources within the agency that yours truly has spoken to often say that the agency — wrecked as it is by a massive human resource crunch — is still an effective and largely independent agency. I say, largely independent, because there is still a small clutch of controversial cases where interference from the political executive seems to be the norm. This interference has meant that whatever semblance CBI had as an agency of repute and integrity has been squarely dragged through the mud.

Adding to the burden of these seemingly interminable cases is the recent order of the Supreme Court directing a CBI probe against its own former director Ranjit Sinha. At such an unfortunate juncture, one could be faulted for expecting that the appointment of a new CBI director would be beyond reproach. That, sadly, is not the case. Even the build up to the appointment of Alok Verma as the new CBI chief has been nothing less than dramatic. The CBI director is to be appointed by the Central government on the recommendations of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India.

For reasons unknown, the government chose not to convene this meeting before former director Anil Sinha’s term was to end on December 2 last year. In another shock move, the Centre prematurely curtailed the tenure of the CBI Special Director RK Dutta, the senior-most in line to be the next CBI chief and transferred him to the ministry of Home Affairs, just two days before Anil Sinha was to vacate his office. Once Dutta was shipped out to the home ministry, Rakesh Asthana, an additional director and three-years junior to Dutta was moved up the ladder as an interim director of CBI. With Asthana taking charge, it was the first time in a decade and only the second time in the entire history of CBI that the agency was functioning without a full-time director.

Dutta’s transfer raised eyebrows in bureaucratic circles given that the apex court had distinctly laid out that no officer involved in the investigation of the 2G and the coal block scam was to be moved out of the agency. A weak defence was put up arguing that Dutta was involved in these cases only in a supervisory position and that moving him out of the CBI did not affect the cases. However, this reasoning is too clever by half as there never really was an urgent need to move Dutta out of the agency. Ideally, Dutta should have been promoted up the ladder to the position of the Director instead of being surgically shifted out of the agency.

Dutta has a redoubtable 17 years of experience in investigation of anti-corruption cases and has been an old hand in the CBI, well-versed with its working and modalities. Dutta also had an illustrious stint serving as the ADGP in the Karnataka Lokayukta headed by Justice Santosh Hegde. On the other hand, the newly appointed Director, Alok Verma, is not a CBI man and has had only a brief 18-month stint in anti-corruption cases while working with a state vigilance bureau. To be fair, Verma meets all the technical parameters for qualification to the post and has served as the Delhi police commissioner in his last posting. But, the demands made from a supervisory position in state and local policing vis-a-vis a supervisory position in CBI are poles apart.

Given CBI’s stature, it enjoys a special position in investigating graft cases, bank and securities frauds and other major economic offences including cases that have inter-state and even international ramifications. Contrast this with the generalised roles of state police officers who are often engaged to look into violent crimes like murder, rape, kidnapping and simpler offences like theft, burglary, assault. Supervising complex cases filled with endless intricacies and arcane technicalities like the 2G scam and the coal block scam needs time and expertise that grows over a period of time. Dutta’s experience in guiding these investigations clearly gave him an edge over other candidates. By shifting him out in a sudden overnight move, the Centre has shown that its intent to resolve these cases is shaky.