Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Is government adopting strong-arm tactics?' that was published in Newsband

Is government adopting strong-arm tactics?

The Centre has also been dragged into the CBI mess. Alok Verma has been replaced as Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation. It is clear that there is a full-blown conflict between the Centre and Verma.

It is one thing if Mr. Verma had merely challenged the legality of his dismissal. But he more than hinted at interference in his functioning. The Centre’s action could be meant to protect certain people. The Centre divestED both Verma and Asthana of their powers. The new acting director is M. Nageswara Rao — he has transferred many officers investigating cases against Asthana. The government appears to be adopting strong-arm tactics against Verma. It was the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), which gave the order divesting him of his office.

But Section 4B of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act assures the Director of a two-year tenure and makes it clear that he cannot be transferred except by the high-power committee — comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India — that appointed him. The Supreme Court will address the question. It will also examine whether the CVC’s power of superintendence has been rightly invoked in the present case. The question is how to repair the image of a CBI?

The government’s decision to remove feuding CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana is based on the CVC’s recommendations, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on October 24, asserting that it is absolutely essential to restore the agency’s institutional integrity and credibility. A Special Investigation Team will look into the charges and both officers will “sit out” the duration of the probe, he said, adding that they have been sent on leave as an interim measure. He also dismissed as “rubbish” allegations by the Opposition parties, including the Congress, that Verma was removed because he was to look into the Rafale fighter jet deal.

The government’s order sending the two officers on leave and giving the director’s charge to a joint director, he said, is only to give effect to the recommendation of the CVC. The government is committed to ensure that the CBI does not become a “mockery” as some officers have attempted to do, he asserted. Responding to a question that the government wanted to defend Asthana as he is a “blue-eyed boy” of the Prime Minister’s Office, Jaitley said what matters is the quality of evidence, not who is “blue-eyed or red-eyed”.