GUEST COLUMN
Time we punish negligent and pliable investigators
Time we punish negligent and pliable investigators
FOR THE government investigative and enforcement agencies to do their job professionally and in an unbiased manner,some basic requirements are absolutely essential.First,the agencies should be manned by a well-trained and experienced staff headed by a committed professional who has been selected on the basis of merit and experience.Second,they should be insulated from undue external interference in its functioning and third,and more importantly,they should be accountable not only to the ruling party,but to law and the people of this country.The erosion in their performance and credibility has not taken place overnight!
This process set in during the emergency years has been going on for some years now.Alas,they have fallen to a new low during the recent past.The last few heads of these agencies have been selected more for their pliability than for their ability and reputation for integrity.Unashamed and unaccountable,some heads have been openly dancing to the tune of the ruling cabal.Look at what a mess the CBI has made in the investigation of the Arushi murder case and the flip-flop of the ED (Enforcement Directorate) in the 2G and the Radia tapes.The agencies have little hesitation in stalling the whole process of investigation or putting it in top gear depending on just a hint from their political masters.ED and Income Tax raids against political opponents have become routine.
Most government law officers,ever more keen to please their masters,keep on changing their legal opinions with literary flourishes to suit their interests.The list of cases where they completely reversed their erstwhile view in consonance with the changed political scenario is long and getting longer every day.Ratan Tata is not alone in lamenting the fact that we are fast becoming a banana republic,if we have not become one already.
There is little hope of any improvement,unless this process is completely and resolutely reversed.The Supreme Court in its historical judgment tried to achieve precisely this objective when it fixed a minimum of two years tenure for the CBI Director and his or her appointment from a panel of suitable names to be prepared by the Central Vigilance Commissioner,who was to be appointed by a committee that included the leader of the opposition.But see,how the government managed to completely bypass the whole spirit behind these directives of the apex court by taking recourse to dubious technical grounds and appointing a man against whom not only a corruption case was pending for trial in the court but one whose appointment was strongly opposed by the leader of the opposition.No amount of rhetoric and pious intentions can reverse the downhill slide.
More than anything else we need political will to bring about a change if the regulatory and investigative agencies of the government are to have any credibility.I am not saying free them from all political control.In a democratic set-up,these agencies must ultimately be accountable to the elected government that in turn is accountable to the parliament.All that is required is to give them functional autonomy free form arbitrary political control.The appointments to these agencies,especially the heads,should not become a matter of political patronage.The selection process should be transparent and accountable.Training and adequate resources is another aspect that needs immediate attention.
Open swindles like the Satyam case could not have taken place had these agencies done their job.The complexities of financial juggleries and technology require expert hands in these agencies to unravel these swindles at earlier stages.This expertise needs to be employed from outside till the agencies personnel can be suitably trained to be able to decipher what is going on.
As an immediate measure,there should be a review of all the cases pending for investigation with these agencies to find out whether the delays are genuine.The officers found guilty of misusing their powers with malafide intentions or those who were negligent should be given exemplary punishment.For a start,the officers who were negligent in the investigation of the Arushi murder case and the 2G scam should be identified and punished.
(The writer served as Commissioner of Police,Delhi, and later as Governor for Manipur,Mizoram & Jharkhand at various times)
* VED MARWAH – FORMER POLICE CHIEF & GOVERNOR