Scare Tactics?

Doubts about the investigative process cannot but be raised as the new director of the CBI, Mr Joginder Singh, hand-picked by Prime Minister Deve Gowda, started his assignment by seeking out all former prime ministers to get their cooperation and blessings. At least two of them had the sense to snub him in no uncertain terms. Popular feeling on the matter is well captured in the severe reprimand that the Supreme Court meted out to him. He has been publicly told the obvious, that it is not his job to seek the cooperation of those whom he is to investigate, and in his case there is only one master, the court itself.

This raises the further question about the intention behind the raid. At a time when all manner of scandals are coming out of the public woodwork, attempts to bring dubious politicians to book are welcome. But if there is anything worse than the wrongdoing itself, then it is using the investigative process as a political weapon. When this happens, the investigation is perfunctory and the end result is for honest investigators down the line to feel that they have been used. The government has its next task well cut out. It has to show that it is serious about the investigations and not merely seeking to shake up the Congress and its leader for their perceived role in the Almatti controversy. Otherwise the public as well as the investigators will lose faith in the process and there will be no recourse against questionable public deals.