Is the CBI shadow boxing?

CBI cracks down on India's corrupt babudom
12 Jun 2009, 0400 hrs IST, Sachin Parashar, TNN

NEW DELHI: India regularly features in the list of most corrupt nations in the world and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has revealed just why. The agency's countrywide drive against corruption by public functionaries threw up an arc of corruption — from forgery of caste certificates and data theft to bungling in purchases in the much-vaunted Indian Army.

The accused as just as diverse — officials of PSUs, Income Tax, Doordarshan, Delhi Jal Board, army, CISF and several other government organizations in Delhi, MP, UP, Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland and Karnataka.

The CBI registered a case on Thursday after it found that army authorities had fraudulently purchased material for barbed wire fencing along the Indo-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir. According to CBI officials, these purchases said to be worth Rs 12.5 crore were made through the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd to avoid floating tenders. The purchase was shown from Shiva Steel and Wires Ltd at Gangyal in Jammu which, the CBI found, is not equipped to handle such a huge order.

``Wrongdoing is suspected because such purchases are not supposed to be made through NCCF India. Also the firm from which it was shown to have purchased does not have the capacity to supply so much material. The role of some army authorities is being looked into,'' said an official requesting anonymity.

While it appears that the agency has gone into an overdrive in the face of severe criticism over its alleged diffidence before the government in high-profile cases, the sheer scale of the exercise is enough to send warning messages to corrupt public servants. Sixty-nine cases have been registered in the past few days in what is being described by officials as the biggest-ever drive against corruption which has also enrolled the common man through its widely publicised SMS campaign. And the CBI isn't done yet.

``In order to have demonstrative impact, extensive special drives, preferably at least once every quarter, are being organised to target the known corrupt departments/organisations and public servants so as to attack corruption both at the grassroot and high levels,'' said an official.

During the drive in Delhi on Wednesday, eight cases were registered over the usage of forged scheduled tribe certificates, on the basis of which employees of various PSUs and government offices had secured jobs. These organisations included the income tax department, Doordarshan, Delhi Jal Board and Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. The agency also seized Rs 25 lakh from the home of a senior manager in Oriental Insurance in Ghaziabad.

The Delhi wing has also detained three junior engineers and two retired superintending engineers for causing a loss of more than Rs 1 crore to the Delhi Development Authority during 2003-5 while benefiting a contractor. During searches, six bank lockers were found in the possession of the accused. ``So far, one locker has been searched from which Rs 972,000, 10 gold biscuits, 29 gold coins, and 810 grams of gold jewellery have been recovered. The cash available in the bank accounts is around Rs 60 lakh,'' said an official.

On Thursday, the agency raided the premises of seven MCD engineers who allegedly allowed unauthorised constructions. The accused include executive engineer B S Yadav from whom documents suggesting purchase of 12 immovable properties have been seized. Around Rs 8 lakh cash was seized from another engineer, Anil Kumar, as also documents from another senior official who had bought properties worth Rs 1.5 crore.

Apart from the anti-corruption cases, the agency also unearthed cases of data theft and supply of sub-standard dolomite to Bokaro Steel Plant causing a loss of Rs 1.3 crore to Vijaya Bank by a Punjab-based firm. In another case related to Punjab National Bank, the agency found that the credit facility of the bank had been enhanced without obtaining any collateral securities.

* All 16 divisions of CBI in the country carried out raids on officials of the Army, PSUs and government organisations including Doordarshan, income tax department, Delhi Jal Board, DDA and banks; 69 cases registered
* Case registered after army authorities were found to have committed fraud in purchasing barbed wire fencing for the Indo-Pakistan border
* CBI says SMS campaign for citizens will be revived for a fortnight from now to get more information about these cases and to seek information for fresh ones

Can this be the light at the end of the tunnel? or
Is this a false dawn?
Only time will tell.
However, they are putting the cart before the horse.
They are attacking the symptoms and not the disease.
The disease are politicians.
As long as there are corrupt politicians who continue to demand money from bureaucrats for favours, how can you say the CBI is taking action on corruption.
Do you notice that among the list there is not a single politician.
Have politicians suddenly become angels.
No!
The CBI is just scared of taking action against them.
Unless the CBI is removed from the control of politicians, we cannot have a corruption free society and what the CBI is doing is just eye-wash for public consumption.
The only politician on whom I would have to control the CBI is A K Anthony.