The writer, a former civil servant, is secretary general of the Lok Janshakti Party.
Panacea that isn’t
CBI imbroglio has spurred the Supreme Court to fast-track the setting up of the Lokpal. But an unaccountable ombudsman is no solution.
The CBI’s image has taken a severe battering. The inglorious public washing of dirty linen by the CBI top brass has not only dented its reputation but also eroded the public faith in our premier investigating agency. But though its aura may have dimmed, the CBI’s professionalism should see it weather this crisis and regain credibility.
At this critical juncture, it is crucial that the governing class avoids knee-jerk reactions that could irretrievably damage an organisation that has, despite misadventures, been reasonably effective in its ordained task of combating corruption and malfeasance in high places. The CBI, as structured today, has served the nation well over the decades. But it is now evident that the days of the CBI as we know it are numbered. The present imbroglio has already spurred the Supreme Court to fast-track the setting up of the Lokpal. The notice issued by the SC to the Union government on December 10 on a petition for treating the leader of the single-largest party as the leader of the Opposition for the purpose of appointment of the Lokpal is a clear move in this direction. Is the Lokpal the panacea for the current ills and the magic wand that will sweep away all corruption? My studied view is the ill-conceived Lokpal will not only adversely impact existing institutions of governance but irretrievably damage the country’s capacity to fight corruption.
The raison d’etre for the Lokpal Bill of 2013 was the widespread but deeply flawed belief that the bureaucracy, including the CBI, is hobbled by the political executive. The Supreme Court famously referred to the CBI as a caged parrot, an appellation which has become its nom de plume. Nothing could be further from the truth, as the revelations in the ongoing CBI fracas have amply revealed. If indeed the government was imperious conductor of the CBI orchestra, the on-going ugly rumpus would never have happened. The perception that the CBI is a caged victim of an overbearing political executive is a complete misreading of the relationship. One might recall that in the UPA regime, the CBI was instrumental in the arrest of a cabinet minister and the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s favourite ministers — Pawan Bansal and Ashwani Kumar — for wrongdoing. Clearly, when it chooses to exercise its power, the CBI has the heft even in the present system to bring wrongdoers to book, irrespective of political pressure.
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