The CBI mess

Remember the Supreme Court had memorably described the CBI as a ‘caged parrot’? Now it looks the ugly spat between the CBI Director Alok Verma, and his deputy, Rakesh Asthana, shows that the CBI indeed resembles a cage full of squabbling parrots! The pre-dawn sledgehammer blow has opened up multiple flanks with the political landscape exploding in outrage ahead of the election year and Verma knocking on the doors of the Supreme Court.

The biggest casualty has been the CBI itself. The filing of counter complaints by Verma and Asthana against each other and the arrest of a junior CBI official in this regard has brought no honour to the agency. Even in the worst of times earlier, its reputation had never been so shredded. As if this is not enough, now the CVC has also been dragged into the sordid affair

. Investigating agencies can never be governments’ pets. But then it is unlikely that this kind of reform would be endorsed by either the BJP, or the Congress, the principal parties that have benefited from being the CBI’s master.

The facts are plain to see. The de facto removal of CBI Director Alok Verma was of doubtful legality and added no sheen to the Modi government. The general public perception is that the Centre intervened to ease out Verma for his resistance to the agency being used as a political tool and protect CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana regarded as PM’s blue-eyed boy. It does not behove a democratic government to resort to the arbitrary exercise of executive power superseding the checks and balances mechanism. It is a basic premise of law that the authority to remove an appointee vests in the appointing authority. It is an inversion of law that the central vigilance commissioner (CVC) ‘sacked’ the CBI Director appointed by a high-power committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice and the Leader of the Opposition for a fixed two-year tenure. The Supreme Court is now all set to decide on the legal validity of CVC’s decision and Verma’s plea for reinstatement. The government has drawn a false equivalence between Verma and Asthana with the intention to feign neutrality and portray the latter as no worse than the former. There could be some substance in Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s charge that the CBI chief was removed to forestall investigation into the Rafale deal. The ‘interest’ of the government was writ all over the CBI crisis. The footage of IB sleuths held for snooping made compelling viewing.

Maruthancode (TN)

Once again the onus is on the consumers to contribute to a better environment by bursting only low-smoke, low-noise and relatively safer crackers. It is time to address the issue of vehicular/industrial pollution and crop-residue burning, which play a major role in degrading the quality of air, usually before the onset of winter. Improved public awareness is required, so that local shops/traders do not misuse the permission that allows the sale of so-called environment-friendly crackers, especially when reliable/established e-commerce retailers are not allowed to sell them. While a dedicated time-window to light crackers would render discipline and reduce the noise/smoke, the root cause of the problem and the key air pollutants ought to be mitigated by enforcing a robust plan. Educating farmers, encouraging efficient waste management by grant of subsidies and imposing penalties on repeated offenders can preserve the festive spirit and provide the much needed relief by preventing deterioration of public health/productivity.

New Delhi

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