Agency’s reputation has taken a hit, say former chiefs

NEW DELHI: Veteran Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers have taken a dim view of the removal of the agency’s director and his deputy by the government.

“I do not know the facts of the case, but the reputation of the institution has taken a hit,” said Trinath Mishra, who led the agency in the late 1990s. “It is (sending the head and second in command of CBI on forced leave) unprecedented,” he said and added, “the institution has been brought disrepute.”

Another former CBI director echoed his view. The directors of CBI “have been posted in and out at the government’s pleasure in public interest till the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act ( the statute that governs CBI) was amended, as it stands today and within the ambit it is unprecedented,” former CBI director Vijay Shanker said.

Several other former senior CBI officers questioned why the government had let the issue -the feud between CBI director Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana -- to fester. “The CBI is the main anti-corruption unit in our system. Notwithstanding the facts of the case, the government should have addressed the brewing crisis much in advance,” a former CBI additional director said on condition of anonymity. Others expressed concern about junior officers who have had to face the brunt of the feud. “Junior officers do not decide who to investigate or what is to be probed. They follow orders. I feel sorry for them and the way they have been shunted out to far-flung places,” AP Singh, former CBI chief, said.

I do not know the facts of the case, but the reputation of the institution has taken a hit... The institution has been brought disrepute

TRINATH MISHRA, former CBI director

Junior officers do not decide who to investigate... They follow orders. I feel sorry for them and the way they have been shunted out to farflung places

AP SINGH, former CBI chief