Coal Gate: Supreme Court tells govt. to restore CBI's independent position

New Delhi, April 30 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the government to restore the independent position of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with regard to its probe of coal block allocations.

It said that the government has shaken the entire process of investigation by asking the CBI Director Ranjit Sinha to show the draft report to the Union Minister for Law and Justice Ashwani Kumar for alleged vetting before its submission to the apex court. "Why was the apex court kept in dark about the sharing of probe report with the government," a bench of the Supreme Court asked the CBI counsel.

The apex court bench further said that:"This suppression by the CBI is not ordinary." It said that Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should not be influenced by its masters and its independent position must be restored. "Our first exercise will be to liberate the CBI from political interference. You don't need to take instructions from political masters," the apex court said.

In an embarrassing admission, CBI Director Ranjit Sinha had last week filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court in which he said that its probe report on coal allocation scam was shared with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and joint-secretary level officials of Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Union Coal Ministry.

Although governments have rarely been comfortable with judiciary taking charge of a politically significant investigation, the UPA leadership on Monday seemed resigned to having to swallow the not-so-sweet pill in order to get out of the tricky situation it was pushed into on Friday when the CBI confirmed to the court that it was made to share the contents of the report. The apex court asked the CBI to file a fresh affidavit on the matter. (ANI)

Everyone in India knows that the CBI is the pet poodle of the Central Government, whether it is the UPA or the NDA, it is immaterial. It was the worst kept secret.

It was used as a sword against recalcitrant political parties to toe the line of the centre.

Mayawati and Mulayam are aware how effectively it has been used against them.

The Chit fund scam has now given the UPA an excuse to put the CBI dogs on Mamata.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the government to restore the independent position of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with regard to its probe of coal block allocations.

But why only this probe.

The CBI should be completely independent in all probes.

And so also the entire police force.

The Supreme Court should set a time limit by which the police reforms should be completed and people should not have to wait indefinitely for these corrupt governments.