The raid raj

THE CBI raids on P Chidambaram and his son and the income-tax action against Lalu Prasad and sons would be all in order if these lead to convictions in court. That happens in the rarest of rare cases. In media coverage the distinction between fact and fiction often gets blurred. We are supposed to believe that a person as intelligent and clever as the former Finance Minister-cum-lawyer would keep self-incriminating documents at home for the CBI to come and collect. Two firms with whom his son’s name is linked are under investigation for forex rule violations. The charge is Chidambaram as Finance Minister cleared foreign investment proposals without taking them to what the CBI says was the competent authority, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

Chidambaram says the proposals were cleared in routine by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board consisting of five Secretary-level officers. The FIPB, he believes, was the competent authority. Whose version is right would be decided in court, provided the case reaches there. Raids lead to instant TV debates in which reputations get shredded. The rule that “everyone is presumed innocent until declared guilty by court” has become irrelevant. Chidambaram has pleaded victimhood in defence — a columnist targeted for anti-government writings: “The government's aim is to silence my voice and stop me from writing, as it has tried to do in the cases of leaders of Opposition parties, journalists, columnists, NGOs and civil society organisations.”

Lalu Prasad, however, has little intelligent to offer by way of defence. He and his offspring are linked to benami land deals worth Rs 1,000 crore. The BJP keeps provoking the Bihar Chief Minister for his silence on Lalu Prasad. Nitish Kumar has finally responded, wisely: “If you think your allegations are true, you should move ahead and take legal recourse instead of just indulging in bayanbaji.” All the sound and fury over the UPA scams and Vadra land deals has not produced any high-profile conviction. In 2014 Narendra Modi promised swift trial of MPs to have a taint-free Parliament in five years. As he completes three years in office, the lazy, unreformed criminal justice system mocks his government.