Book The Corrupt

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

One cannot but be amazed at the reported refusal of the President, K R Narayanan, to allow the CBI to charge-sheet three ministers of Narasimha Raos cabinet. These are Satish Sharma, Sheila Kaul and B Shankaranand. The grounds for his refusal are that Mr Sharma has already been fined by the courts and, therefore, a second punishment may not be sought by the CBI. In case of Mrs Kaul, Mr Narayanan holds that there is no evidence of her having taken any bribes and that her wrong-doing is only nepotism (allotment of DDA flats to her grand-children, among others).

In the case of Mr Shankaranand, the President holds that there is no sufficient evidence of personal involvement in the concerned scam (securities scam). It may be recalled that Gen S K Sinha has also withheld permission to the CBI for charge-sheeting P K Mahanta, chief minister of Assam, in the LOC scandal. A few questions arise here.

If the governors and the President want judicially sustainable evidence before they let the CBI go ahead with its charge-sheets, are they not pre-judging the alleged corruption charges? Therefore, would not their decision be prejudicial to the proceedings in the courts where the CBI would file a charge-sheet? By withholding sanction, are they not exercising a judicial mind for which they may not be equipped, especially because the pros and cons are not argued as in a judges court?

If honest and upright people like these two expect wrong-doers to leave traces of their culpability, I am afraid they are under-estimating the criminal genius of such people. Further, isnt nepotism in high places a crime? And should it not be punishable?