As a dark cloud hovers over the nation’s premier probe agency and its credibility, one man – interim CBI chief M Nageshwar Rao – makes for the silver lining
A proverbial pall of gloom had been hanging over the Central Bureau of Investigation as it grappled with a debilitating internecine strife between its top two mandarins and their respective supporters. As this ever-raging battle spilled into the courts and the corridors of power, it not only threatened to irredeemably undermine the credibility of the nation’s premier probe agency but also exposed the Narendra Modi government to a heavy barrage of flak from the opposition.
Amid this maelstrom of accusations and counteraccusations, as both Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana were divested of their roles as Director and Special Director, respectively, M Nageshwar Rao was asked to “look after the duties and functions of the CBI Director” – thus making him the in-charge, the virtual boss, of the organisation.
Many social and political observers have lauded the Modi government for this decision, purely on the grounds of Rao’s credentials and suitability for the job.
The list of the commendable accomplishments of this 1986-batch IPS officer from Odisha cadre runs long.
Right from the beginning of his career, Rao demonstrated his extraordinary qualities as a law enforcement officer. When he got his first posting as a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) in Odisha’s Talcher district during the 1989-90 period, the area had long earned the dubious distinction as the ‘second Dhanbad’ of India, being infested with coal smugglers and criminals of all hues. Rao, despite his limited experience, successfully managed to crack down heavily on such elements and restore law and order to a satisfactory level in Talcher. This earned him much applause from the authorities and public – the first among the many that would come over the course of his illustrious career.
Rao sank his teeth deep into his profession while serving as Superintendent of Police in four districts of his home cadre – Bargarh, Jagatsinghpur, Mayurbhanj and Nabarangapur – apart from serving in the same capacity at the Indian Railways in Rourkela and Cuttack as well as in the Crime Branch.
CHANGING LIVES
Notably, in Mayurbhanj, Rao played a key role in successfully bringing reforms in the Lodha tribal community whose members had for generations been taking to a life of crime.
During his stint in Jagatsinghpur, Rao did something even more remarkable: In 1996, he became the first police officer in Odisha to make use of DNA finger-printing technique in crime investigation. With his experience as a postgraduate in chemistry at Osmania University and a research scholar at IIT Madras, Rao ingeniously applied the then-cutting-edge technique to crack a complicated rape case, which eventually led to a seven-year conviction for the accused.
He used his investigating acumen to similar effect as the SP of Crime Branch in Cuttack where he played a crucial role in getting Belu Das convicted for the 1991 hooch tragedy there that claimed more than 200 lives.
Rao was also known to be the one who sniffed out the Sulphur scam at Paradip Phosphates Limited in Paradip and the Urea scam in Nabarangpur district.
Another landmark year of his career was 2008, when Rao garnered much high praise for his anti-insurgency efforts as DIG (Operations) of the Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) in the northeastern state of Manipur. After being promoted as IG CRPF, Eastern Sector, Kolkata, Rao led the Lalgarh operations against the Naxalites from the front. He was instrumental in the establishment of CRPF’s COBRA battalion and the organisation’s second group centre at Sambalpur in Odisha (the first being in the state capital of Bhubaneswar). Equally importantly, Rao played a crucial role in dousing tension in riot-ravaged Kandhamal district.
Some years later, while serving as the Additional Director General of Odisha Fire Service and Home Guards, Rao was credited with transforming the hitherto underperforming fire department of the state into something of a model for the country. Under his inspiring leadership, the department demonstrated its mettle when Phailin and Hudhud cyclones put it to test during the 2013-14 period.
For their outstanding performance in disaster management, Rao’s team received the first-of-its-kind Chief Minister’s Award for Excellence in Governance and Innovation in Public Service, with the man himself earning a citation and a sizeable monetary reward of Rs 5 lakh.
This prestigious award was, of course, one of the many that Rao has received so far – the most notable ones being President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Service, President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service, Odisha Governor’s Medal and Special Duty Medal.
Hailing from Mangapet village of Warangal district in Telangana, he was also felicitated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu at a public function in Vishakhapatnam. When the city was reeling from the destruction wrought by Cyclone Hudhud four years ago, it was Rao who was asked by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to lead a team of more than 500 Fire Service personnel for rescue operations. The Andhra government and the people of Vishakhapatnam still express appreciation for the efforts of that team.
Over the past couple of decades, Rao has not only earned the reputation of being a tough, no-nonsense top cop but he has also been widely regarded among his fellow Police officers as the ultimate disaster manager. Many of his colleagues have also expressed hope that his disaster management skills will come in very handy as the new head of the crisis-ridden CBI.
However, as much as the Modi government has been praised for making Rao the interim CBI boss, it has been slammed by the Opposition for manner and circumstances in which it did so.
Soon after the CBI registered a corruption case against its Asthana on October 21, the Congress indicted the Modi government for the probe agency’s credibility and integrity being questioned. Leading the attack, Congress President Rahul Gandhi termed the CBI as a “weapon of political vendetta” under the Modi regime.
“The PM’s blue-eyed boy, Gujarat cadre officer, of Godhra SIT fame, infiltrated as No. 2 into the CBI, has now been caught taking bribes,” Gandhi tweeted referring to Asthana.
“Under this Prime Minister, the CBI is a weapon of political vendetta. An institution in terminal decline that’s at war with itself,” he added.
Addressing a media conference, Congress leader Sachin Pilot blamed “vested interests” within the Modi government for the “power-play” within the CBI.
“The power-play and blame game at the top level of the CBI is very alarming. Much is happening within the CBI which is unwanted and people are accused of corruption at the highest level. This internal war within the CBI is alarming.
“How do we trust the CBI to look at corruption issues when their top people are themselves involved and allegations are flying thick and fast,” Pilot told the media.
“When top CBI officers are accusing each other of massive corruption where is the credibility and sanctity of this government and the CBI to function in an unbiased and transparent way.
RINGING TRUE
“We think there are vested interest within the government and the CBI which has brought the agency to such a passe. Today the credibility and integrity of the CBI is under huge question mark,” added Pilot.
Pilot’s words rang true at least partially.
While the CBI had filed the case against Asthana for allegedly accepting a bribe to settle a case of meat exporter Moin Qureshi, who faces multiple cases of money laundering and corruption, Asthana had filed a complaint against CBI Director Alok Verma accusing him of interfering in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation corruption case involving family members of Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party boss Arvind Kejriwal also joined in, accusing the BJP of turning the CBI into a “national disgrace”.
“During the Congress rule the Supreme Court had termed the CBI a caged parrot, Modi government has surpassed the Congress record and in its greed to victimize political opponents, it has turned the agency into a national disgrace,” he said in a tweet.
The CPI-M also accused the Modi government of trying to undermine India’s democratic foundations for the CBIs “internal war” and alleged that Asthana was pushed into the agency to subvert investigations against BJP leaders.
Taking to twitter, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said Asthana “patronised by the BJP and handpicked by Modi”, was pushed into the premier investigation agency despite opposition to his entry only to subvert ongoing investigations and stop all cases against BJP leaders.
“If this official [Asthana] is now caught ‘fabricating’ documents and taking bribes, should his political patrons in BJP not be asked tough questions too?” Yechury asked.
Observing that a number of “compromised officials with dubious records” have been inducted into top agencies under the Modi regime, Yechury said the role of top BJP leadership in “damaging and destroying” the country’s institutions was unparalleled in India’s history.
“That is not just due to poor governance. But it is due to malafide intention to target political opposition and save their own under investigation,” he said.
“That the CBI is particularly under the spotlight should not surprise us.
“After all, it was the agency investigating the Bharatiya Janata Party President [Amit Shah] for a very serious charge. No prizes for guessing how and why his name was ‘cleared’ under a dark cloud,” said Yechury referring to Shah who was indicted for murder and arrested in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case in July 2010.
Later in a statement, the CPI-M said the recent happenings within the CBI reflected the degree of damage caused by Modi government to constitutional authorities and institution of parliamentary democracy.
“The undermining of Parliament itself, interference in the judiciary, manipulations of institutions like the CBI are not due to poor governance but due to malafide intentions to undermine the secular democratic foundations of the constitution,” it said.
The RSS-BJP must be stopped from creating further damage to our country’s constitutional order,” said the party calling upon the people to build up resistance.
Asthana was brought to the CBI in 2016 after the NDA came to power in 2014 and was tipped to head the agency.
OLD LINKS
Hailing from the Gujarat cadre, he had supervised the probe into the 2002 Godhra tragedy as Inspector General of Police, Vadodara range.
Asthana’s elevation to the top post had evoked sharp reactions from the opposition following which he made way for Alok Verma.
The next day saw the beginning of judicial intervention as the Delhi High Court directed the CBI to maintain status quo in the probe involving Asthana and granted him interim protection from arrest till the week after.
Justice Najmi Waziri directed the CBI to file response to agency’s Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Devender Kumar’s plea seeking quashing of First Information Report (FIR). The court listed the matter for further hearing on October 29.
The most dramatic development on this issue, however, came about on the following midnight.
The government virtually removed Verma amid speculation that the CBI Director was planning to order a probe into the controversial Rafale deal.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet met at around the midnight and appointed Rao, a Joint Director who was third in the pecking order, to be the acting CBI Director. An official statement later said that in the interest of equality, fairplay and principles of natural justice, the government decided to divest Verma and Asthana of their “functions, power, duty and supervisory role in any manner as Director CBI and Special Director CBI respectively”.
On a day of fast-moving developments, Rao transferred as many as 13 officers of the agency, perceived to be close to Verma, who were probing bribery charges against the Special Director. The CBI also re-constituted the team probing the case against Asthana.
Verma, who could be removed from office as he has a mandated two-year term that ends in December, challenged the Supreme Court the orders of the CVC and the government, saying they struck at the independence of CBI and were outside their jurisdiction.
The official statement said the action against Verma and Asthana was taken on the recommendation of the Central Vigilance Commission, which met on the evening of October 23 and divested the two officials of their functions and powers in respect of cases already registered and/or required to be probed under the Prevention of Corruption Act. It said grave allegations of corruption by senior functionaries of CBI against one another has vitiated the official ecosystem of the organisation.
“The environment of faction feud has reached its peak in the CBI leading to a potential loss of credibility and reputation of the premier investigating agency of the government. It also vitiated the working environment of the organisation which has deep and visible impact on the overall governance,” it said, adding that it was an interim measure which will subsist till CVC concludes its inquiry and appropriate decision is taken in the light of the probe.
The midnight government action immediately triggered a political war with opposition parties alleging that the government acted against Verma because he could be looking at a probe into the Rafale allegations over which a delegation of former union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan had given a memorandum seeking a probe. They said the decision also struck at the independence of the investigating agency and constitutional authorities.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi said by sending Verma on a “forced leave” for collecting documents on the Rafale “scam”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a clear message that anyone coming around the jet deal will be “wiped out”. The country and the constitution are in danger, he said in a tweet.
Addressing a public meeting in poll-bound Rajasthan, he said, “Do you know what the chowkidar (PM) did at night. The chowkidar removed the CBI Director because CBI was raising questions on Rafale deal. CBI Director had called for papers on Rafale.”
His party’s spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala asked whether the CBI Director was “sacked” for his keenness to probe “the layers of corruption in Rafale scam”.
Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi said the government’s decision stripping Verma of his duties was in violation of the Lokpal Act and the Supreme Court judgment in the Vineet Naryan case. He asserted that the CVC had no power to either recommend the removal of Verma or appointment of a new director.
In his reaction, Kejriwal said: “What are the reasons for sending CBI director on leave? Under which law did the Modi government get the authority to initiate action against the chief of an investigating agency appointed as per the Lokpal Act? What is the Modi government trying to hide?”
Yechury said the “illegal removal” of CBI chief by the Modi government “to protect their own handpicked officer, against whom serious charges of corruption are being investigated, points to attempts at a serious cover-up to protect his direct links to the BJP’s top political leadership”.
“To ensure that the CBI is not a caged parrot, Supreme Court had granted protection to the Chief from government’s whims and fancies by giving him a two-year tenure. What is Modi government trying to hide by its panic move? #BJPCorruption,” the Left leader added.
GIVING ACCOUNT
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took a dig saying CBI should be renamed as “BJP Bureau of Investigation”. “CBI has now become so-called BBI — very very unfortunate,” she tweeted.
At a post-cabinet media briefing, Jaitley rejected the opposition allegation that Verma was removed because he was going to order a probe into the charges in the Rafale deal. He said the step was taken on the recommendation of the CVC to maintain the institutional integrity of the probe agency.
He said that an SIT will be formed to go into mutual allegations of bribery levelled by Verma and Asthana in keeping with the principle that those accused will not probe the charges or supervise investigation into charges against them.
“I regard this as rubbish. Three opposition parties are saying that we know what the agency was going to do next [Rafale probe]. This cast doubts on the fairness of the probe. I don’t believe this is true. If what the three parties are saying is true, then this itself casts serious doubts on the fairness of the investigation. It violates the integrity of the person.
“I still believe everybody is presumed to be innocent till proved otherwise. We don’t want to prejudge. We are committed to ensuring that India’s investigating process does not become a mockery as some officers have attempted to do in the last few days.
“It is important that the integrity of CBI as an institution be maintained. That is why some officers must stand out for the time being as an interim measure. If they are innocent they will come back,” he said.
He was replying to a question on the charge by Congress, AAP and CPI-M that Verma was shunted out because he was going to order a probe into the allegations on the Rafale deal over which former ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan had given a memorandum demanding a probe.
On October 26, the Supreme Court directed the CVC to complete its probe into bribery allegations against CBI Director Alok Verma under the supervision of a retired apex court judge Justice A K Patnaik within two weeks while restraining the interim CBI chief from taking any policy or major decisions during the period.
The Supreme Court order came on a petition filed by Verma challenging the government notification divesting him of his duties and powers and giving charge to Rao, a joint director. The court also issued notice to CBI, CVC and the government for reply by November 12 when the next hearing would take place.
Making it clear that prolonging the inquiry was not in the nation’s best interest, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Sanjay Krishan Kaul and Justice K.M. Joseph said the inquiry would be conducted on the allegation contained in the Cabinet Secretary’s note to the CVC, which itself was based on a letter written by Rakesh Asthana, a Special Director in the CBI.
As Attorney General K.K. Venugopal told the court that the inquiry should not just be on the allegation against Verma but also on the allegations raised against CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana, Chief Justice Gogoi said: “We are only concerned with Verma”.
The court also asked officiating Director Rao not to take any policy or major decision except for routine ones that are essential to keep the CBI functional.
It directed all decisions taken by Rao “after taking over charge till this hour” (when the order was being dictated) to be submitted to the court in a sealed envelope by November 12, when the court will hear the matter again. It said it may reverse or retain Rao’s decisions.
The court made it clear that entrustment of supervision of ongoing inquiry by the CVC to a former judge is a one-time exception which has been felt necessary by the court in the peculiar facts of the case and should not be understood to be casting any reflection on any authority of the government.
The government welcomed the Supreme Court’s intervention and said it will strengthen the investigation process and help the truth to come out “soon and without bias”.
“The Supreme Court direction to set a two-week time frame is a positive development and it would further strengthen the fairness criteria of the investigation. Appointment of a retired Supreme Court judge would ensure a fair inquiry,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
FINAL DECISION
Jaitley said the objective of the CVC direction, and the government’s action on those directions, to remove Verma from the top post of the probe agency was to ensure a fair investigation since he was facing bribery charges.
He said the two additional steps by the apex court – the two-week deadline and Patnaik’s appointment to oversee the investigation – would ensure those objectives and would lead to early disposal of the case, which the government sees as a positive development.
The Congress said that the Supreme Court’s decision to intervene in the CBI row was a “commentary on a failed government” led by Narendra Modi.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who hit the streets in the capital along with leaders of his party and its allies demanding “reinstatement” of Verma, courted arrest after dubbing the Prime Minister a “chor” (thief).
He, however, refused to comment on the court order but said that the Prime Minister acted against the CBI Director as a result of panic, as a result of fear, because he has helped Anil Ambani with Rs 30,000 crore.
But Congress Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted: “Today, Modiji was again reminded that ‘Modi Rule’ fails miserably before the ‘Rule of Law’.”
He said “brazen attempts to interfere, infiltrate or capture institutions” will not be tolerated and “people of India will remind you [Modi] in 2019 that bad governments come with an expiry date!”
Kejriwal welcomed the “intervention” by the Supreme Court and hoped the institutional integrity of the investigating agency will be upheld.
“Welcome intervention by the Supreme Court in the CBI matter. In the interests of the nation, hope that institutional integrity of CBI will be upheld and powers that be will understand that their illegal acts will not go unchallenged,” Kejriwal tweeted.
Until this gravely complicated and multifaceted problem is resolved satisfactorily and transparently, that proverbial dark cloud of public suspicion will continue to hover ominously over the CBI, threatening to push down its credibility to abysmal depths. But even that cloud will have a silver lining – in the form of none other than M Nageshwar Rao.
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