My letter to the Prime Minister

India’s Mysterious Economy

The state of our economy as officially reported by the government not only defies sound economic logic or forecast, but appears to be becoming more and more of a national mystery, especially to experienced economists and analysts. Nothing adds up, and the data on hand from several respected and reliable sources just doesn’t lead to the information on our economy being given by the Government. And as for our projected GDP growth for the next financial year, 2017-18, it seems to have become more and more like the card game of bluff, with several forecasting agencies, both national and international giving completely different figures. 

The Economist, May 13th to 19th, labels India’s economy - State of Disrepair – and warns of a fiscal crisis if the financial profligacy and budget deficits of the States are not brought under check. A short passage is worth quoting : ‘The Central Budget deficit may have been reduced from 5% four years ago to 3% now But its parsimony has been matched by the profligacy of India’s 29 states. They have spent nearly all the money saved, leaving the country’s public finances no better off. The central government has only itself to blame. By implicitly guaranteeing bonds issued by states, and forcing banks to invest their depositors’ money in them, it has unwittingly created the conditions for a future fiscal debacle…ndia should act now to prevent a future crash by imposing more discipline on state borrowing, and by pressing markets to discriminate between states with sustainable finances and those on the path to bankruptcy.’

Does anyone know what our GDP growth last year really was? It has been officially stated that our economy grew at 7.1% during 2016-17, as against 7.6% last year, the .5% reduction being the result of the Tuglaqian and insensitive manner in which the demonitzation was carried out. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave India a growth forecast of 6.6%, against its original forecast of 7.6%, “primarily due to the temporary negative consumption shock induced by cash shortages and payment disruptions associated with the recent currency note withdrawal and exchange initiative.”

Economists and analysts have been puzzled at the 7.1% GDP rate announced by the Central Statistical Organization, after demonetization sucked out 86% of hard cash from the Indian economy, causing greatest hardship to the rural and informal sectors. Even the infrastructure structure slowed down, as per the official CSO report, with job losses and layoffs. There appears to be a great deal of sleight of hand, if not actual fudging of data going on, something being openly discussed in all informed quarters. And there is a great deal of data to show reduction of private investment, of gross capital formation, of falling exports, and that the industrial sector, construction, manufacturing and retail sectors, job creation, the agricultural sector and informal sectors that work on a cash economy, (the informal sector providing 45% of GDP and 80% of employment) have all been badly hit by demonetization. And yet the Government gives a GDP figure of 7.1%. Perhaps the CSO forgot to factor the above data in their GDP calculations. Instead, they show a whopping 10% consumption growth for the same quarter when demonetization sucked the currency out of the system, and people became cash starved!

Does the government think the people are fools. And has it sunk to such an abysmal low that it must resort to unethical and brazen fudging of figures and ‘statistical illusions’ for the citizens of India. For how long do they think these illusions of fudged data can stick?

Most economists are of the view that the CSO figures are indeed mysterious, if not magical, when correlated with the data regarding the growth in various sectors that make up the GDP. Economist Vivek Kaul says that ‘an increase in government expenditure has been responsible for a greater proportion of the increase in GDP - for every Rs 100 increase in GDP, increase in government expenditure made up for Rs 26.64 on an average.” Games governments play to hoodwink citizens.

We have still not been informed by the Government as to how much black money in the country has been integrated into the banking system after demonetization. Well, it has been reported that of the Rs 15.4 lakh crore worth of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes that were scrapped, as much as Rs 14 lakh crore has been deposited in banks. And how much of this is black money is not known.

Is this going to be the next ruse to fix our GDP for the next year?

And what the effect of the GST will be, introduced through the needless midnight fanfare, no economist, leave alone the common man can predict. Analysts say that it relies heavily on digital connectivity, something that is neither reliable, nor universally spread in our country. And though it might make the tax structure easier for the big business, its impact on the unorganized, vulnerable production sector, such as weavers, artisans, small cash run businesses is yet to be seen. The triple system of Central, State and Interstate GST and revenue sharing between Centre and States would certainly demand innovative monitoring. And as for enforcement, we wait to see what lies there and what’s in it for whom. 

                                                                                                                   Ram Jethmalani

Chattisgarh burns red, New Delhi fiddles , a tragedy Supreme.

                                                                                                  

Yet another tragedy in Bastar. 25 CRPF men killed on 24.04.2017 by Maoists in Sukma, scream the headlines. Wreaths have been laid, bugles have sounded, compensation has been announced, and the tragic headline is already on the wane and will be forgotten soon. Do we even remember that just about a month ago 12 CRPF men were killed in the same place, 15 were killed on March 11, 2014 again in the same place, and the worst being a massacre of 75 CRPF men in Dantewada in April 2010.  And these are just illustrative examples, not a complete list of Maoist killings which run into thousands over the last ten years. 

The CRPF has a grand history dating back to pre-Independence days. It was originally constituted in 1939 as the Crown Representative Police in 1939, to address the political unrest and agitations and help the then princely States of India to maintain law and order.  After Independence, the force was renamed as Central Reserve Police Force by an Act of Parliament on December 28, 1949. Its main role is to assist the States in maintaining internal   security. The Headquarters of CRPF was to be at Neemuch as per Sector 8(2) of the original Act. Since independence, CRPF has been recognized for its gallantry and patriotic service to the nation, both at the borders and within India.

With such a glorious history and legacy, why does the CRPF appear such an orphan today, with neither leadership nor strategy, without proper arms and equipment, without protective cover or mobile connectivity required for guerrilla warfare, and has repeatedly been reduced to cannon fodder for the rapacious Maoists.

The country was shocked to learn that the post of DG, CRPF had been lying vacant for the past almost two months, and was filled up only after the Sukna massacre, almost like an afterthought. May I ask the Home Minister and the Prime Minister, both members of the Appointments Committee, to explain this lethargy in governance, after all that hype about good governance which was the BJP’s main election plank. Why did it have to take the lives of 25 CRPF jawans for this routine appointment to be made?

Maybe no answers will be forthcoming. But perhaps it would be better governance if the new DG CRPF is ordered to shift his Headquarters to Dantewada and stay put there for at least a year, protect his men, boost their morale, and give them all the support they need, and clean up the infested area. Massacres in Chattisgarh should never be repeated again.  

I only hope the newly appointed DG, CRPF has some prior experience in handling battalions of the CRPF, and has adequate knowledge and technical competence in field craft, knowledge of various types of weapons and ability to use them, proven man management skills of field formations, and intimate knowledge  of the topography and enemy tactics. If not, and his appointment is based solely on the fact that he belongs to the IPS, then he certainly cannot hit the ground running, and will continue to be the usual apprentice in the trappings of New Delhi, without a clue about the harsh ground realities of a Battalion at work. And the attacks on our hapless jawans will go on.

I cannot understand why the post of DG- CRPF is reserved only for IPS officers of all hue, even when they have had no experience in the outfit that they are supposed to lead. If there are senior competent officers recruited in the CRPF, and have spent their entire service in the force and have intimate domain knowledge of their work, why are they denied this opportunity? Just one small policy change by opening up senior positions of the force to them can hugely boost their morale.                                                                                  

Some other disturbing questions also surface. The Sukma incident, an attack by a large group of Moists armed with weapons, is reported to have taken place in broad day light around noon time.  How did this go unnoticed? Does it not indicate an abysmal intelligence failure of the State and Central police agencies? The State police have their moorings and permanent influence in the area where the Central Police force is deployed, and therefore have greater responsibility to gather actionable intelligence and passed it on to the CRPF.  They have better knowledge of local language and dialects, of local customs and environment, which the CRPF men drawn from various parts of the country do not have. Does the State Police and the CRPF have the required synergy between them, or has the State Police abdicated their responsibility and put the entire load on the CRPF? 

It is also not clear why drones and helicopter services were not utilized for tracking the movement of large groups of armed men in the region. Why is it not possible for ISRO to place a fleet of small satellites to give 24 x 7 images of movements of insurgents in this chronic Maoist infested area, which for the last two decades has cost us so many lives of our brave jawans?  I urge the Prime Minister to treat this as a matter of highest priority for national security. Pictures of Venus and Jupiter can wait. Let us try and get pictures of what is happening on Indian soil, and help our security forces.

Then there are disturbing bits of information openly spoken about that the Maoists share quite a cosy relationship with both politicians and industrialists in their areas. To the politicians, they promise votes from the people they control, and from the industrialists there are regular payments of protection money which sustain their insurgent activities. Is this the reason why there is no political will to completely crush the Maoist war on the Indian State?

Where are the Maoists getting their arms and ammunition from? It is said that both China and Pakistan are doing their utmost to ensure that the Maoists are never wanting for them. Can the Prime Minister please inform us as to what steps are being taken to curb this. Judging from the repeated succession of such attacks on our security forces, we don’t seem to be doing anything very effective.

And then there are reports about the pathetic conditions that the CRPF jawans have to work in - lack of potable water in hot temperatures, poor quality of food, stress and fatigue because of long deployment without break.  Clearly, the CRPF appears to be in such a state of neglect that its leadership cannot even get its basic man management right.

Every time a tragedy happens in the Maoist belt, there is a predictable response from the Government – that there will be an enquiry about whether the Standard Operating Procedures were being implemented. But would it not be more useful to review these SOPs and ensure that they give maximum protection to our jawans engaged in this guerrilla warfare.

I am waiting for a transformational statement to come from New Delhi, but have heard nothing yet. New Delhi continues to fiddle while Bastar burns. And I’m reminded of the statement the Prime Minister made after the Pathankot attack in September 2016,  that ‘the sacrifice of our 18 jawans would not go in vain.’ After this recent Maoist attack in Sukma, he has made the same statement in a tweet, ‘we are proud of the valour of our CRPF personnel. The sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain...”

I beg to differ, Mr Prime Minister, all these lives did indeed go in vain, because of neglect, poor governance and failure of the Indian State. I urge you to place the highest priority on this great threat to our internal security, in the national interest. And it’s high time you changed your sound bite writer. He is becoming too trivial and repetitive.    

ISIS NOW IS – A THREAT TO THE ENTIRE CIVILIZED WORLD

I write this piece to clear a total misunderstanding from which our government is unfortunately suffering. During the Question hour on Wednesday 5^th April in reply to Rajya Sabha question 348 the Home Ministry gave a reply which showed total ignorance of an important development which might well turn into a natural disaster for India and of course for every secular democracy of the world.  I tried to draw attention of the house this gross ignorance of our government but my supplementary question was disallowed on a technical ground that not more than three supplementary questions are permissible and mine was the fourth. I write this on the advice of the Hon’ble Chairman who was pleased to meet me after the Question hour was over.

The question of member Shri Raj Kumar Dhoot was “whether it is a fact that Islamic State (IS) has established its base in the country and its modules were recently found operating in the country”

The reply from the Hon’ble Minister disclosed ignorance of our government about the difference between the IS and ISIS. The two are not the same and I cannot allow such dangerous ignorance to persist. The ISIS stood for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. In late 2014 the second IS in ISIS has been dropped and now the IS stands for Islamic State in the whole world.

Due to American pressure and presence in Iraq and Syria the Sunni Islam had not been able to establish its rule in these two States; the objective of the terrorists was establishment of Sunni rule and elimination of the U.S obstacle caused by the presence of its forces.

In the second half of the year 2014 on the first day of Ramzzan the ISIS declared the formation of an Islamic Caliphate known as the Islamic State (IS) in the entire world posing a serious terrorist threat to the secular democracies of the world. The spokesman for this new danger to all secular states of the world will be Abu Bark al-Baghdadi as the Imam and khalifah for the entire world to be called Islamic Caliphate. It will usher in a vast and glorious Islamic Civilisation. The Caliphate would again reach Spain and even conquer Rome.

 In the end of  March last the IS made an armed attack in London and disclosed  its great plans of world domination. Pakistan is welcoming this monster and using it in Kashmir.

The secular democracies  of the world must now unite in a powerful armed force to meet this menace with all its resources military , economic  and intellectual. Make no mistake this new evil force is being used in Kashmir too.

In the fall of 2014 ISIS had done so much damage in so short time that people had asked with great anxiety -: “ where did ISIS come from and how did it manage to do so much damage in so short a period of time?” The question was understandable given the images and videos there including around the world , most notoriously the horriyfying propoganda beheadings of Seven Western hostages with American Journalist James Foley among them. But  the question was also a strange one , because the United States has been at war with ISIS for the better part of  a whole decade under its various names  , first of al-Qeada in Iraq then the Mujahdin Advisory Council and then the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). If there was a familiar foe , ISIS was it.

The following is a paragraph from a great book ‘ ISIS : Inside the Army of Terror’ by Micheal Weiss and Hassan Hassan.

“ ISIS is a terrorist  organization , but it isn’t only a terrorist organization. It is also a mafia adept at exploiting decades- old transnational gray markets for oil and arms trafficking. It is a conventional military that mobilizes and deploys foot soldiers with a professional acumen that has impressed even members of the US military. It is a sophisticated intellegence- gathering apparatus that infiltrates rival organizations and silenty recurits within their ranks before taking them over, routing them in combat, or seizing their land. It is a slick propoganda machine effective at disseminating its message and calling in new recurits via social media. ISIS is also a spectral holdover of an even earlier predecessor al-Qaeda. Most of its top decision- makers served wither in Saddam Hussein’s military or security services…………Most important , ISIS presents itself to an embattled Sunni minority in Iraq, and an even more persecuted and victimized Sunni majority in Syria, as the sect’s last line of defense against a host of enemies- the “ infidel” United States, the “apostate” Gulf Arab States, the “ Nusayri” Alawite dictorship in Syria, the “ rafida” one in Iran, and the latter’s satrapy in Baghdad.”

The IS is now a threat to all civilised nations and a word of advice is called for to my friend the Hon’ble Home Minster: Please ask the news editors to be more accurate in their composing the Headlines of the news items. When I read it I could not believe that my friend Rajnath has said something so atrocious. It is lucky I read the whole report when I realised that the headline was a masterpiece of bad English.

Antrix Devas: A fraudulent termination of a fraudulent contract

The corrupt of the world have much to learn from us, as it is now universally acknowledged that our national capacity to defraud the public exchequer is among the highest in the world. One of the greatest skills that India has built up over the past few decades is in designing of scams, executing them, and then covering them up, not only from the law, but also from people’s memories. The most universally recognized Make in India product is the Indian Scam, truly state of the art.

Of course, corruption happens in almost all countries and societies in the world. But the sheer magnitude, scale and sustainability of India’s corruption is exceptional - the brilliance with which scams are conceptualized, the seamless operations of the political, official and business machinery in cahoots with the quasi criminal sections of the citizenry, all nicely fitting into the loopholes of the law.

After the embezzlement has been successfully executed, we show great expertise in hushing it up, destroying evidence, obfuscating and delaying, protecting the corrupt, nailing hapless scapegoats, all under direct political supervision and bureaucratic connivance/subjugation. Investigations are scuttled or derailed and the CBI becomes the PBI-the Political Bureau of Investigation. Take a look at the last decade – scandals aplenty, punishment nil.

Well, a scam which started in 2003 and mysteriously persists till today is the Antrix Devas scam. It neither gets exposed nor does it close. And till today the general public has not been informed the whole truth about it. Fortunately it is in news again.



A news item appeared on February 28, that the Delhi High Court admitted Devas Multimedia's plea to attach the bank accounts of ISRO's Antrix Corporation to secure damages worth USD 672 million (Rs 4,435.20 crore). These had been awarded to Devas in 2015 by a Tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris for “damages and pre-award interest.” The Delhi High Court has directed Antrix to file before March 21, an affidavit by an authorized officer, along with its audited balance sheets and profit and loss accounts for the past three years, to facilitate the hearing in the matter.

In another Arbitration, in July 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Tribunal at the Hague held the Indian Government liable to pay compensation to the tune of 40 per cent of investment made by foreign investors of Devas Multimedia.

There is yet another arbitration in respect of Deutsche Telekom’s investment of USD 100 million for which judgment is reserved and the award is expected to be much bigger than the last. So altogether the Indian tax payer can look forward to being mowed down under at least Rs 10,000 crores by the time Antrix has finished losing every Arbitration case.

Now, how did this happen? This happened because the fraudulent Antrix Devas Contract was terminated most fraudulently by the then ISRO Chairman in 2011 - the highest act of corruption and betrayal of the people of India.

Devas had claimed in the Antrix-Devas Contract of January 2005 (Clause 12 b) that it had the ability to design Digital Multimedia Receivers (“DMR”) and Commercial Information Devices (“CID”) and had the ownership and the right to use the intellectual property, viz. SDMB technology, involved in their designs. Allegations started mounting around 2009, regarding the authenticity of the IPR claimed by Devas, and a spate of enquiries followed. The then Financial Advisor, G Balachandran had repeatedly informed ISRO Chairman Radhakrishnan that the Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting, (SDMB) technology claimed by Devas in the Contract is not a confidential and proprietary technology held by it. The note recommended that these facts should be intimated to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and the contract should be cancelled on grounds that Devas had given false information when signing the contract about its ownership and rights over the technology and intellectual property, and acted fraudulently. The Financial Advisor also intimated Radhakrishnan that if the contract was terminated on these grounds, the chances of Devas winning any case of Arbitration are remote.

Why did Radhakrishnan disregard this shocking revelation and the sound financial advice given by his Financial Advisor? Why did he not recommend to the CCS to cancel the Contract on grounds provided to him in writing by his officers that the Contract was induced by fraud and misrepresentation and was null and void? Had he done so, Devas would not have succeeded in winning every arbitration, and the Indian tax payer would have been spared the unpardonable financial burden that has started descending upon him.

And thereafter, Antrix and ISRO did everything possible to ensure that they lose the arbitration cases.

I request my readers to go through what I wrote about this case in my blog in October 2015 in http://www.ramjethmalanimp.in/latest-posts/antrix-devas-scam-continues-what-i-predicted-in-2009-has-happenedand in my article in Sunday Guardian in 2014, which my readers can see at http://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/antrix-devas-space-odyssey-continues

I had requested the Prime Minister ‘to appoint a panel of eminent legal experts to put the Department of Space on the right legal track and safeguard national interest and the taxpayers' money. Legal amends can yet be made to save the nation and the taxpayer from being robbed of Rs 18,000 crore by this criminal conspiracy.”

This was the new Narendra Modi Government who came to power on a strong anti corruption agenda, and it was legally possible to have done so. But they chose to do nothing about it, and the people of India, the plaintiffs, were converted into defendants.



Clearly, in retaliation to Devas for persisting in its efforts for execution of the Award and securing a favourable order from the Delhi High Court on February 28, on the same day the Enforcement Directorate, (after sleeping for several years), issued a Press Release that stated that they had ‘provisionally’ attached about Rs 80 crores from Devas.

This was a bit of a hoax because this amount included Rs 68 crores which had been paid by Devas to Antrix as Upfront Capacity Reservation Fee, which Antrix had returned to Devas after annulling the Contract, and Devas had not accepted.

But what was a bit unusual about the ED Press Release was that its main emphasis was that “The agreement entered into by Devas with the ISRO/ACL is illegal as Devas did not have any technology/ownership of intellectual property rights to deliver the Multimedia Services and the main purpose of entering the agreement with ISRO/ACL was to raise foreign investments on the strength of the Agreement with ISRO and thereafter siphon off the investment raised, out of India in the guise of investment in subsidiary Company, Business Support Services and Legal Fee.”

This is something that Chairman ISRO should have said in 2011 and declared the Contract null and void. This is what Prime Minister Modi should have said in 2014, and rectified the mischief of the previous Government. This what the media should be asking even today. Sadly, a blanket of silence seems to have shrouded them.

If this is meant to be a message to arm twist Devas, it is too late. This ground should have been made by Chairman ISRO in 2011 to declare the contract null and void, and pleaded thereafter during the Arbitration proceedings.

The Antrix Devas scam is unique, one of its kind, a classic case of smooth inheritance of a scam sprawling three different Governments from 2003 to 2017. Its history begins in 2003, when dialogue between ISRO/Antrix starts with M/s Forge Advisors regarding opportunities in the global satellite market. It smoothly transitioned to the UPA Government and the Contract was signed in January 2005. Incidentally, Chairman M/s Forge Advisors, Shri Ramanathan Vishwanathan later in December 2004 became Chairman of the quickly cooked up Devas India, the Indian entity with which the Antrix Board approved the infamous Contract a few weeks later on December 24, 2004. And despite the unsavoury disclosures, it was once again inherited with complete ownership by the Modi Government in 2014. The present Government did nothing to rectify the corrupt decision of its predecessors. Instead, they continued with the same premises, which were sure to spell defeat for Antrix in the several Arbitrations. Not at all like the Agusta Westland or the National Herald scams in which the present Government is taking some interest from time to time. Clearly, this scam has extremely powerful backers, cutting across party lines.

Or was the termination error intentional? The nation has not forgotten the Bhopal tragedy, and how the compensation money for the dead and afflicted became the richest contribution to the private coffers of several politicians and their cronies.

One last observation. Is it a coincidence that the last two ISRO Chairmen rushed to the RSS after they retired? Any guesses why?

Sadly, ISRO and Antrix are in disarray, and the Prime Minister seems not in control. He owes it to the nation to tell them the true facts.

A warning and Advice to the Calcutta Judge

Bringing Accountability in the Caged Parrot

The popular perception of the Central Bureau of Investigation is that it is a superior investigation agency, that its investigations are thorough, meticulous and fair, and that it is above political interference. When people or the Opposition in the States are disgusted at the investigations and behaviour of the State Police which comes directly under the political masters, there is always a shrill cry to refer the matter to the CBI, as if it’s integrity and investigation expertise is of a divine order. If only the people knew that the one thing the CBI has remained true to is the date of its founding, that is April 1, 1963. They have, as they have grown, perfected the art of fooling the people all the time.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has been showing itself in several avataras over the last few months.

We read in the papers last month that the Supreme Court directed new CBI chief to lead a criminal probe against the former CBI director Mr Ranjit Sinha over his private meetings with the accused in the coal block allocations. Something unprecedented - a sitting CBI Director conducting a criminal investigation against his predecessor.

Then we read a few days ago that the CBI has registered a case against yet another former CBI Chief Shri AP Singh for allegedly providing favours to the notorious meat exported Moin Quereshi, who is an accused in a graft case, raiding his house et al.

These two incidents suffice to inform the general public about the kind of leadership that political governments value greatly when selecting the CBI Chief.

The appointment of the present CBI Chief Shri Alok Sinha was also preceded by some mysterious political decision making. The previous CBI Director Shri Anil Kumar Sinha retired on December 2, 2016. The senior most officer of the organization, who was most competent and qualified to succeed him, Rupak Dutta, was shunted out two days before A K Sinha’s term ended to a nonexistent post. One of the junior most officers, Rakesh Asthana, a Gujarat Police officer, whose name did not even figure in the panel was appointed ‘Acting Director’ CBI.

This was unusual and unprecedented, lending itself to the most unsavoury speculation. This situation continued for more than a month without the Selection Committee being called. Finally, it was called just after the new Chief Justice was appointed, and Mr Alok Kumar Verma, was selected as Director, with the leader of the Opposition, reportedly giving a dissenting view. Verma is known to be a fine officer and gentleman, but the general talk is that the strings will be pulled by the Gujarat Cadre Additional Director. The present government has shown itself as blatant and brazen as its predecessor to keep the CBI as its pet caged parrot.

After what the country has seen of the top brass of this premier investigation agency, let us come down to their personnel. The CBI staff today is constituted of a few IPS officers deputed from the State Governments from the ranks of SP and above, and a bulk of officers directly recruited by the CBI ranging from Sub Inspectors to Dy SPs. The IPS officers have ensured that they remain supervisory officers for investigation and never have to sign any FIR or a charge sheet to be presented for the Courts. Thereby they are very well insulated against any strictures by the Courts for faulty investigations or failure of the prosecution case. Most of their time is spent in maintaining cordial relations with those in power and protecting their subordinates, who may be hauled up by the Courts for faulty investigation.

Recently, the Special CBI Court of Shri O.P.Saini discharged the Maran brothers and all accused in the CBI case filed against them in the Aircel-Maxis deal cases filed by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate in 2013. The meaning of ‘discharge’ according the Cr PC is that the Investigation Officer (I.O) of the CBI filed a charge sheet against Maran Brothers without any shred of evidence, which resulted in their discharge.

One might ask as to what was the role or contribution of the supervisory IPS officers in this case, or did the I.O file the charge sheet without their knowledge or supervision? The public will never come to know the answers to these questions. From the Bofors case till date, the same situation continues. On the other hand, the IPS officers of the CBI work overtime to file an appeal in a higher court to protect their subordinates in such cases. There is a vested interest in doing this. For if they do not protect them, the subordinate officers would stop filing charge sheets in the courts as per directions received from their political bosses. There is hardly any case where the CBI does not file an appeal when it’s case fails in a trial court. They do it for their self-preservation, and for protecting their officers from defamation/damage charges that they may face in future from those they’ve wronged. Appeals in the higher courts go on for decades. But the CBI officers have the luxury to file these appeals with tax payers’ money, whereas the accused if he is really innocent or honest will have to fight them with his own hard earned money.

The CBI never registers “suo moto” cases against its own officers for wrong doing, unless by an order of the Court, as in the case of the former Director of CBI Ranjit Sinha. It was due to the efforts made by Prashant Bhushan’s NGO spending time and money that a probe was ordered by the Supreme Court against the former CBI Director. The public would like to see this probe report in print and not in a sealed cover citing morale of the organization as a pretext. The CBI constantly conceals from the public its failings and misdeeds, and has the means and political clout to do so. It is this unaccountability that emboldens the CBI to indulge recklessly in its misdeeds and damage reputations.



Every time the CBI registers a regular case, there is a great deal of publicity about raids conducted, and seizure of incriminating evidence. Often family members are humiliated during these searches and subsequent interrogations, something the members of the general public never get to know. Last year, an entire family in Delhi committed suicide because of harassment and torture by the CBI. But nothing is known of what action was taken against the torturers.



If the CBI is to be reformed and made more accountable, a performance audit of the CBI must be made mandatory. While the CBI periodically issues press releases showing a high percentage of conviction by the Courts in the cases handled by them, no one knows how these percentages have been calculated, and how many convictions by the trial courts are later set aside by the higher courts. No CBI press release ever reveals this.

To give out a true picture of its performance, the CBI should list out all the cases (R.C) investigated by it each year, and should provide information whether it ended in discharge, acquitted or conviction. Next, it should provide information whether an appeal was filed by it or the accused in the High Court and if so what the result of such appeal was, and thereafter whether an appeal was filed in the Supreme Court and its result.

For arriving at a truthful conviction rate, only such cases where conviction was not appealed against or was upheld in any appeals filed should be counted. The number of such cases as a percentage of the total number of cases registered in each calendar year alone can give the true conviction rate of cases registered by the CBI, and should be made known to the public, and placed on their website without claiming exemption from the RTI Act. This could perhaps be a small beginning to instill some sense of accountability in the CBI.

My letter to the present Finance Minister and Former Finance Minister seeking explanation if any