#dnaEdit: Squandering trust

The Karnataka government appears determined to make itself the target of popular anger over the handling of the investigation into the death of IAS officer DK Ravi. There is no other way to explain the state government’s stubborn refusal to order a CBI probe. Unless his partymen have something to hide, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah must ask himself whether this strategy of ignoring the statewide protests by political parties and civil society is boomeranging on him and his government. Ravi’s family, fellow IAS officers, and the general public are unwilling to accept that a courageous bureaucrat who dared to tackle corruption could have committed suicide — the initial conclusion of the Karnataka police. This view has gained ground after revelations that Ravi incurred the displeasure of a Congress legislator following his raids on a real estate company in Kolar, and was in the pursuit of builders evading commercial taxes at his last posting when he met his end. The media, especially TV channels, have embarked on a campaign for justice for Ravi, but the effort has only contributed towards muddying the waters. Reports of threatening phone calls, political pressure, and even domestic discord have been aired in the guise of ensuring justice to Ravi.

A death by hanging is never an “open and shut” case of suicide as the Karnataka police kept insisting in the first two days after the incident. The possibility of someone abetting the suicide by heaping mental pressure on the victim cannot be ruled out as in the Geetika Sharma suicide case. The transfer of IG Pronab Mohanty, a respected officer who was overseeing the case of Ravi’s death, has given credence to suspicions of a cover-up. If the demand for a CBI probe was to reach the high court, the state government will find itself hard-pressed to explain this transfer. Past experience lends credence to conspiracy theories and foul play in case of untimely deaths of whistleblowers. Recent years have been witness to several RTI activists and whistleblowing government officials being killed to muzzle their corruption exposés. Some of the successful convictions in such cases like the Indian Engineering Service officer Satyendra Dubey and the Indian Oil Corporation manager Shanmughan Manjunath murder cases were achieved through CBI investigations. While handing over every controversial case to the CBI may not always be possible, and nor would every such case evoke similar public outrage, policies like entrusting such cases to a special investigation team of the state police must be considered. The recent Whistleblowers Protection Act does not have similar provisions, though it allows competent authorities to order CBI investigations on the basis of information received from whistleblowers.

The ongoing outrage in Karnataka is evidence that the anti-corruption mood that turned the tide against the UPA government at the Centre is still holding sway. Siddaramaiah must not make the mistake of dismissing the protests as Opposition-orchestrated. The BJP, Janata Dal (S) and the Aam Aadmi Party are only capitalising on the palpable public anger. Even the media trial on display feeds off the crisis of credibility that has affected the police and the political establishment. This is an unhealthy trend that has escalated in recent years and with far-ranging implications for the rule of law. The media is feeding off perceptions, rightly or wrongly, that the police investigations are influenced by extraneous factors — particularly by powerful politicians and political parties. While the media must stay alert, it must refrain from sensationalising reporting and stoking speculation. The allegations of political interference have vitiated the state police probe. Siddaramaiah must realise that only a CBI investigation can silence the sceptics.