Making a strong case for independence of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Team Anna member, Kiran Bedi, cited the bail granted to the tainted city MP Suresh Kalmadi on Thursday as a case of “the government using the investigative body as a front”.
Bedi said the legal department of the CBI was controlled by the law ministry, which guided the way the agency pursued the court cases. “We have observed that under the influence of the government, many a times the CBI either changes its arguments or weakens its stance while pursing the cases of corruption in the courts. The reason for this can’t be hard to guess,” she said.
The independence of the CBI has been an important demand of Team Anna, that demanded the CBIbe placed under the jurisdiction of the Lokpal.
“Unless the CBI is made independent of the clutches of the government, people accused of corruption would continue to be shielded in one way or the other,” she said.
Activist Vijay Kumbhar said, “As the CBI is not an independent body, there are chances that the case might be derailed in the long run.”
Comments