Fight Club

The CBIs image has taken a hit with the top brass washing their dirty linen in public

- Namrata Biji Ahuja

IN AN ELECTION YEAR, when the Central Bureau of Investigation raids a leader of an opposition party, the government is accused of using the agency to arm-twist political adversaries. When facing the heat of corruption charges, all parties, at some point, have questioned the independence of the CBI.

Coal-gate and 2G scams came as warning signals; the Supreme Court had asked the CBI to probe ex-director Ranjit Sinha’s role in the 2G spectrum scam inquiry. For the first time, the agency was probing its own director. The second instance came in 2017, when the CBI registered an FIR against former CBI director A.P. Singh and controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi, on corruption charges. The rot had been setting in for a long time, and the warning signals had been ignored for far longer. Today, the agency is in the ICU.

On September 24, Central Vigilance Commissioner K.V. Chowdary had an hourlong meeting with an official of the policy wing of the CBI. The CVC, which has supervisory powers over CBI, had stepped in to examine the allegations and counter allegations within the CBI top brass. Incumbent CBI director Alok Verma’s number two, special director Rakesh Asthana, has accused him of “interference” in an Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) corruption case involving Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad.

Asthana, a Gujarat cadre IPS officer, alleged Verma tried to stall the raid against Lalu last year. This August, Asthana made it formal by filing a complaint with Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Sinha who sent the complaint to the CVC.