Since the CBI’s reputation as an impartial agency receives a debilitating blow every time it ‘fails’ to nail a suspect, the time may be fast approaching when a move to refer a case to it will be treated as a joke. Its latest inability to build a case against an accused relates to the old offender, Jagdish Tytler, whose involvement in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 in Delhi is widely suspected. After his latest acquittal, it is possible that he will be able to evade the long arm of the law with as much ease as other suspected law-breakers like Ottavio Quattrocchi or Shibu Soren. The former, as is known, was not only able to leave India despite being under the CBI’s scanner in the Bofors scam, but also succeeded in withdrawing his funds from his bank in London after a freeze on such transactions was mysteriously lifted although the case against him was still pending. Similarly, Soren walked free and even became the chief minister of Jharkhand after the CBI “miserably” failed, to quote the Delhi high court, to prove his complicity in a murder case. The use of disproportionate assets cases to keep an ally in line or threaten an adversary is also generally seen to be another of the CBI’s unprofessional ways of functioning.
In the Tytler case, the CBI’s claims about the unreliability of the witnesses would have carried greater conviction if its track record had been more credible. But, against the background of its propensity to follow the dictates of its political masters rather than the merits of a case, the clean chit to Tytler cannot but be widely disbelieved. But, it isn’t only the CBI’s name which is besmirched. Its political masters, too, will be seen to be pulling the strings from behind.
Foremost among them are Sonia Gandhi, over whom a cloud of suspicion has been hanging ever since the Bofors affair, and Manmohan Singh whose reputation for probity does not go with the seeming manipulation of the CBI. It speaks volumes that Manmohan Singh, ironically a Sikh, is leading the Congress into elections after Lok Sabha tickets have been given to Tytler as well as Sajjan Kumar, two names which still send shivers down many spines. It is as reprehensible as tickets being given to the accused for the Khandamal outrage.