It’s hard for CBI to catch the big fish

A recent report that India lost a whopping $462 billion in illicit financial transactions, tax evasion, crime and corruption lends credence to allegations made in a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the Supreme Court’s (SC’s) direction to the Union government to get back black money, approximately Rs70 lakh-crore, stashed away in foreign banks.

The US-based research and advocacy group report released by Washington’s Global Financial Integrity says faster rates of economic growth since reform started in 1991 led to uneven income distribution, resulting in more illicit flows from India.

The country lost $213 billion in illicit financial flows (or illegal capital flight). The illicit financial flows were generally a product of tax evasion, corruption, bribery and kickbacks and criminal activities.

These averments coming from a distant land aren’t new, as a couple of years ago SC had dealt with a PIL relating to transaction of huge money through the hawala channel. The beneficiaries were noted politicians, bureaucrats, media men and businessmen.

There was a diabolical nexus among them, and CBI, which has filed a complaint in the  Rs1.76-lakh-crore 2G spectrum scam against unnamed persons, had expressed inability to catch the big fish.

Former bureaucrat NN Vohra was the first to mention the nexus in his report, which the government kept under wraps.

The hawala case exposed many and established the fact that CBI can’t go against the wishes of its political masters.

Yet, an attempt was made by the court to insulate the agency and the central vigilance commission (CVC) came into being.

Political ingenuity can’t be undermined. The government has tied CVC’s hands in matters of corruption by ministers and top-ranking bureaucrats.

But that’s not the sole reason CBI has earned a bad name. The premier investigating agency’s inertia in dealing with corruption cases against the omnipotent big fish is also to blame.