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| Edited By: |Source: DNA |Updated: Oct 24, 2018, 07:00 AM IST
A faction-ridden Central Bureau of Investigation’s reputation has taken a steep fall what with dirty linen being washed in public. What is supposed to be a premier investigating agency is now a fertile ground for one-upmanship with vendettas and grudges motivating the recent unravelling. While the juicy details of the case have led to speculations in the corridors of power, the problem underlining the current feud is fundamental and has its roots in the system.
The political stranglehold over institutions like the CBI, Chief Vigilance Commission, and the Comptroller and Auditor General has critically undermined their independence. Over the years, the government at the Centre have appointed people at the top posts who will be pliable enough to the ruling parties. They became the shoulder from which the government fired at its opponents.
The Supreme Court called the CBI a caged parrot but the premier investigating agency is now caged within its own inadequacies. The current chief of CBI Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana have been appointed by the government. Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) didn’t realise the snowballing of an internal feud unprecedented in the history of CBI. As the trading of charges gains momentum, one needs to take a dispassionate look at the very system that has led to this crisis.
Verma and Asthana hold very important posts that give them power over very powerful criminal lords. The power play is now visible to the public at large. When the system gives individuals power over the country’s rich and powerful, it creates potential challenge.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said no coercive action can be taken against Asthana till October 29, when it will resume hearing the special director’s plea to quash the agency’s FIR against him in a bribery case. The court instructed law enforcement agencies to preserve all electronic records of the accused, including mobile phones and laptops.
However, a cloud of suspicion hangs over Asthana; the important cases he has been handling — Vijay Mallya and AgustaWestland — will also be viewed with suspicion. If Asthana steps down during the investigations, then the fate of the cases, or at least their early closures, becomes uncertain.
On the other hand, if the charges against him prove to be unsubstantiated, then the CBI will end up suffering the most. A weakened institution will ultimately weaken the foundations of a democratic society. A top agency’s fall from grace will also entail a crisis in public confidence about the rule of law.
If a probe is compromised, then to get to the bottom of a case becomes impossible. How then can one expect justice to be done. Whatever be the facts of the case, an institution is more important than the individual. It takes very long to build up a reputation and very little time to lose it.
