Cat among Parrots
CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION The reputation of India’s top investigation agency hit rock bottom with its two seniormost officers trading charges of favouritism and corruption
Bird and animal metaphors are inescapable when it comes to the country’s apex investigation agency, whose motto is ‘industry, impartiality and integrity’. All three qualities have been called into question in recent years even as successive governments have used the sensitive agency to further their political ends, mainly fixing political rivals or obliging others by withdrawing cases.
In 2013, angered over political interference in its functioning, the Supreme Court called the CBI a ‘caged parrot, speaking in its master’s voice’. This harsh metaphor did not stop the agency’s slow descent into an abyss of infamy. Since 2013, two former CBI chiefs have been named in corruption cases, but the worst turn came this October when a bizarre fight erupted
Never before have so many of our hallowed and supposedly independent public institutions been under so much fire
The Attorney General told the Supreme Court bench that the two CBI top officials were fighting like ‘Kilkenny cats’
between CBI chief Alok Verma and his deputy, Rakesh Asthana. Both accused each other of taking bribes from a Hyderabadbased businessman, while the CBI raided its own premises and snooped on its own officers. The government intervened and sent both officers on leave, stripping the director of his powers and transferring dozens of officers. The move was itself controversial given allegations of government interference in the CBI’s functioning, including charges that NSA Ajit Doval had interfered in the probe against Asthana—a Gujarat cadre officer perceived to be close to the BJP government. Meanwhile, the Attorney General told the Supreme Court bench hearing Verma’s case challenging his enforced vacation that the two officers were fighting like ‘Kilkenny cats’.
The government’s contention is that Verma violated a provision in the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018— where prior permission has to be taken for investigating a case against a government official (in this case, Verma filing a case against Asthana). This new provision, former CBI officials say, was a move by the government to curtail its powers. The apex court is yet to pronounce its verdict on Verma’s petition. What the court says will be closely watched for its impact on the future trajectory of the agency and to see whether its submission to government interference is complete.