This refers to the editorial, “If not now, whenIJ” (May 4).
The manipulation of the Central Bureau of Investigation by the Congress and the demand for freeing it from Government control is as old as the Bofors scandal of the 1980s. Former CBI Directors have admitted to Government interference in the agency’s functioning. And even the present CBI chief, Mr Ranjit Sinha, has openly acknowledged that the body is a ‘Government department', leading an angry Supreme Court to call for the agency's liberation from the control of the political executive.
Those against unshackling of the CBI argue that the agency has to be accountable to a democratically-elected Government, else there is a risk of creating a rogue agency. This argument holds no water. The judiciary, the Comptroller and Auditor-General, the Central Vigilance Commission and the Election Commission of India are not accountable to the elected Government. Are they ‘rogue agencies’IJ In fact, free from Government influence, they are the real watchdogs of our democracy and curb the wayward acts of elected regimes.