Greater transparency needed for CBI independence: Bhushan

Citing political and government interference in the functioning of CBI, senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan today said greater transparency and an overseeing authority will ensure its independence.
He expressed serious concern over recent unofficial meetings between the then CBI Director R K Sinha and some accused being probed by the agency and advocated that it is brought under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
"Unfortunately, there is no institutional mechanism for investigating corruption in CBI particularly corruption at the top level of CBI. This is the problem that we are facing. The case of the former CBI Director where we had made a complaint to CVC but unfortunately no action was taken because nobody knew what to do.

"Who will investigate a former and immediate Director of CBI. That is why the case of appointing Special Investigation Team in the whole matter is pending in the Supreme Court and the SC is considering that," he said during a book launch function here.
Bhushan said people have been reading about the entry register of the previous CBI Director, which shows he was meeting a large number of the accused persons, being investigated by CBI, multiple times, some times late at night without the presence of the investigating officer.
"These were all unofficial meetings at his residence which in itself is a cause of serious concern," he said.

Bhushan, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, avoided queries on his reported differences with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
He was speaking during the launch of a book 'CBI Insider Speaks--Birlas to Sheila Dikshit' written by Shantonu Sen, former Joint Director of CBI.