Modi regime acts fast. Big fish must be caught
The Narendra Modi administration must be commended for taking strong action against corporate espionage within the Government. For years, there had been suspicions about classified information being leaked, but unfortunately, previous regimes did precious little to either chase down the perpetrators or plug the holes. This was possibly in part due to a slothful administration and in part due to the corrupt nexus that existed within the system. For example, during the UPA years, Mr Veerappa Moily, as Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, had suggested the installation of close-circuit cameras to step up surveillance and monitoring. At that time, his office had also drawn up a list of individuals suspected of wrongdoing.
However, neither of the two initiatives was taken to its logical conclusion. This is where the Modi Government has been different. After it sensed wrongdoing, it followed the trail, gathered enough evidence to alert the police, who set up a trap and then went it for the final kill. The plan was set in motion last October when National Security Advisor Ajit Doval noted that top-secret information was being leaked outside. Agencies concerned were alerted and a full-fledged probe, that included recording hundreds of hours of conversations and booby-trapping the suspects by feeding them false information, was launched.
Once the ground work had been done and a strong case built up, Delhi Police swooped in on the suspects. As of late last week, a dozen people had already been arrested, and they include corporate officials, consultants and low-level ministerial staff. Against this backdrop, it is rather absurd to see how the Opposition, particularly the Congress, has twisted the situation and accused the Government of failing to get a “hang of governance” and allowing espionage to continue right under its nose. Had the police simply gone into Shashtri Bhavan and arrested the first low-level peon it suspected, it would neither have been able to build a proper case nor hoped to catch the big fish.
In fact, it is precisely because the authorities allowed the racket to play out to its full potential, that we now know that corporate espionage was not only happening at the Oil Ministry but also at the Coal, Power and Finance Ministries. In fact, even some of the heavily-guarded Budget papers had been leaked. Not surprisingly, the Defence Ministry had also been targeted, but reportedly its systems and protocols could not be breached. Clearly, the situation calls for a large-scale review and revamp of security measures. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's suggestion of creating only soft copies for Government records instead of hard copies, deserves serious consideration.
While the Government must, of course, ensure that the perpetrators in the current case are brought to justice, it must also equally focus on fixing the system. Corporate espionage is a reality that all Governments across the world deal with — and the Modi Government cannot wish it away. In the recent past, at least two leading industry associations have surmised that corporate espionage is a serious threat. While their reports dealt largely with companies spying on one another or internally on colleagues and employees, it reflects equally on corporate-Government espionage as well.