The Hindu : Catch the big fish and small, says PM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 27, 2002

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Catch the big fish and small, says PM

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI AUG. 26. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today said that the Government should not bring any kind of pressure in the working of the Central Bureau of Investigation or any other constitutional agency.

"This is not an assurance. It is a fact. It is our track record. Our Government has given the greatest autonomy to investigating agencies, including the CBI,'' Mr. Vajpayee said, inaugurating a conference of CBI and State Anti-Corruption Bureaux at the Vigyan Bhavan here. "We shall not tolerate corruption, howsoever highly placed the offender may be.''

Mr. Vajpayee wanted the State Governments to give "similar autonomy'' to their anti-corruption agencies. "Let each institution in our democracy do the work that the law earmarks as its domain — in proper coordination with other institutions; with no interference or pressure from outside; with requisite autonomy but with full responsibility.''

Corrupt practices were the main reason why the Government's development efforts were not yielding the desired result, Mr. Vajpayee said adding that private expropriation of public resources was also a moral hazard to society.

The Prime Minister complimented the CBI on the trust and credibility it enjoyed in the eyes of the people and reminded its officers that they could create a deterrent impression that "no fish — big or small — can escape your net.''

For a system-wide enhancement of credibility, five areas needed to be addressed. There had to be better coordination, cooperation and timely exchange of information among various anti-corruption agencies. Second, anti-corruption agencies, especially the CBI, should continuously hone their skills to nab criminals and economic offenders. Third, fresh legislative and administrative initiatives were needed to curb the growth of economic offences — there had been a spurt in financial frauds, bank and stock market scams, money-laundering and cyber crime and some of these channels were also being used to finance anti-national and terrorist organisations.

Fourth, the test of systemic effectiveness lay in quick disposal of investigation as an unhealthy situation was created when cases dragged on for years.

Lastly, the anti-corruption agencies must deal with wrongdoing within themselves sternly because the motto of "zero tolerance of corruption'' must be most visible in them.

He presented the President's Police Medal to five CBI personnel — Debasis Bagchi, former Inspector-General, the Superintendents of Police, Jai Swadesh and J. P.Verma, R. S. Dhankar, Additional SP, and Brij Shyam Mishra, DSP.

Earlier, the CBI Director, P. C. Sharma, said the agency had adopted modern methods of investigation, which included online connectivity, V-Sat connection and video-conferencing.

"The impact of these new initiatives is already being felt. Pendency of cases which are two years old and more has been drastically reduced.''

Referring to delays in probe and subsequent trial, Mr. Sharma said that cynicism among the people increased when they noted that while it took long to wrap up investigations, the courts took even longer to dispose of the cases.

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