AP, Bengal bar on CBI

IF the CBI’s internal tussle being played out in the Supreme Court points at its decline and politicisation, the recent action by Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are pointers to the crises of credibility as well. The Andhra Pradesh Government’s order withdrawing permission to the CBI automatically taking up cases in the state has been emulated by West Bengal. AP withdrew its ‘general consent’ as it suspected the CBI was planning raids on Telugu Desam leaders in a pressure tactic to dampen CM Chandrababu Naidu’s activism on forging Opposition unity. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee followed suit, reasoning that the ‘times have changed’, a none-too-subtle hint that she assumed a political agenda behind CBI cases.

Indeed, questions have been raised about the CBI’s investigation of political opponents who had to be tamed — a Karnataka minister’s resort was raided after he hosted Congress MLAs from Gujarat on the eve of Rajya Sabha polls in which Ahmed Patel was a candidate. There have been occasions to suspect that the induction of officials into the CBI has not been kosher. But the dragging of the CBI into a political slugfest between federalists and proponents of a strong Centre does not augur well in a security environment where crime and terrorism have transcended national borders. In this scenario, investigating agencies must not be hamstrung by the formalities of fragmented control. The NIA is the latest byproduct of this requirement.

Currently it is the remiss of the judiciary to preserve the sanctity of the institution and dispel the impression, as noted by jurist Fali Nariman that the CBI works ‘on the nods and winks of ministers or senior officers of administrative ministries’. Political equations tend to change; both Mamata and Naidu were not so long ago in the NDA corner. But political slugfest must not allow public confidence about the impartiality of this powerful anti-corruption agency to be shaken. The political executive must do its bit by demonstrating a positive stance in the SC on firewalling the CBI from extraneous influences and considerations.