The Government’s stranglehold on the CBI is a well known fact, but Thursday’s raids against DMK leader MK Stalin showed that even timings of such actions are decided by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) headed by the Prime Minister.
Following political outrage, the CBI not only halted its raids at Stalin’s residence mid-way, but the agency ordered an inquiry to ascertain if all procedures were followed.
However, the damage was already done and political circles were abuzz with talks that this was a ploy to send a warning to the UPA’s supporting partners —Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav. And the message seems to have been driven home because, after fretting and fuming against the UPA over the last two days, the Samajwadi Party quickly fell in line on Thursday.
The CBI defended its action claiming the searches were conducted “strictly” in accordance with procedures and were not intended to target any particular individual.
Sensing trouble over the timing of the raids, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and other leaders feigned ignorance on the decision regarding the raids.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath also “strongly disapproved” the agency’s action.
The Opposition cried foul over the controversial CBI move that came two days after DMK withdrew support from the UPA Government at the Centre. Slamming the Government, the Opposition also accused it of misusing the CBI.
Amid the uproar, the CBI team pulled its team out of Stalin’s residence in Chennai and the agency issued a statement explaining the reasons behind the searches.
The CBI said it had registered a case on Wednesday under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code including criminal conspiracy, forgery, cheating and abuse of official position besides relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The agency said the case was registered following a complaint that 33 vehicles had been imported in Tamil Nadu and some of these vehicles were subsequently sold in violation of import provisions causing a loss of nearly Rs 48 crore to the exchequer.
“The case has been registered against an importer and a senior Intelligence officer of the DRI who allegedly did not take any action even after identification of vehicles at the premises of certain users and unknown others,” a CBI spokesperson said.
During searches conducted at 18 locations, 17 imported cars have been located and seized, the statement said.
“The CBI wishes to clarify that the operation was strictly in accordance with procedures and there was no intention whatsoever to target any particular individual,” the spokesperson added.
The Prime Minister said: “We are all upset at these events. The Government had no role in this that I am sure of. We will find out the details. This should not have happened. The timing of the raid is most unfortunate.”
CBI sources claimed that the cars were allegedly brought into the country by importer Alex Joseph in violation of customs laws and in collusion with a senior DRI officer Muruganandan.
The agency team searched Stalin’s residence this morning as one imported high-end Sports Utility Vehicle Hummer was registered in the name of his son Udaynidhi.
The Hummer was imported in 2007.
Seven luxury cars were seized from the Chancellor of Shri Rama Chandra Medical College R Venkatachalan, two vehicles from MGM group of companies, one from a private person Johnson, five from one G K Shetty Ramanna and two from Raja Shankar. These cars were imported between 2007 and 2011, the sources said.
Stalin dubbed the CBI raid as a “political vendetta” and said he would face the case legally.
Reports had suggested that Stalin had prevailed over his father in the decision to pull out from the UPA.
BJP leader Arun Jaitley said: “Merely because it has a political fallout, it is improper for any Prime Minister or a Finance Minister to so blatantly interfere in the functioning of the CBI and cripple it from carrying on its routine investigations.”
Reacting to the development, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said: “The CBI raids on Stalin in the imported cars case vindicates BJP’s charges that the Congress has been blatantly misusing the CBI to survive in Government. Today CBI is indeed the Congress Bureau of Investigation.”
Rudy alleged that while there are “endless charges” of corruption against the Congress, it is attempting to “muffle” voices of its alliance partners who plan to abandon it.
“This raid on Stalin, heir apparent to the DMK, is a message to the BSP and the SP that if they desert the UPA Government they are going to meet the same fate,” Rudy said.
SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati are facing cases of disproportionate assets which are being investigated by the CBI.
Mayawati slammed the Government over CBI searches at Stalin’s residence, claiming that she too has been a victim of “misuse” of CBI by both BJP and Congress.
She said such “misuse” is not good for a healthy democracy and “we condemn it”.
The CPI (M) said the CBI searches were a “clear signal” to the parties supporting the ruling dispensation.
Senior CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury also termed the agency as “Congress Bureau of Investigation”.
“Within 24 hours after they (DMK) withdrew support, these raids took place. The CBI can, therefore, only be called the ‘Congress Bureau of Investigation’,” Yechury told reporters here.
“The Prime Minister has also thrown up his hands. If the PM, as the head of the Government, does not know what his Government is doing, it is a sad state of affairs,” he said.
Observing that senior ministers were also not aware as to who ordered these raids, Yechury said: “The only authority who stopped these raids will be the one who ordered it.”
The Congress, however, rejected the charge that the CBI functions as per the Government’s diktat.
“The timing (of the CBI raid) is unfortunate. We have nothing to do with it.” party spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit told reporters.