CBI feud is what happens when you ‘prostitute’ an investigating agency: Arun Shourie

Arun Shourie | Commons

Former Union minister Arun Shourie says Supreme Court must restore Alok Verma as CBI director if the case against him fails to hold up.

New Delhi: Former Union minister Arun Shourie has alleged that Alok Verma, “an independent officer”, was divested of his charge as CBI director because of his refusal to buckle under pressure.

“The purpose of removing Alok Verma is quite clear,” he said.

Verma and CBI special director Rakesh Asthana were asked to go on leave after India’s premier investigative agency found itself grappling with an unprecedented fight between its two top officers. Both have accused the other of bribery and misconduct, thrusting the CBI into deep tumult.

As things stand, M. Nageshwar Rao has taken charge as interim CBI director, with Asthana moving the Delhi High Court to quash a case filed against him by the agency.

Just two days ago, Asthana was identified as the prime accused in a bribery scandal in which the CBI brass allegedly colluded with meat exporter Moin Qureshi to extort money from suspects in exchange for reprieve from investigation.

Meanwhile, Verma has approached the Supreme Court against his removal.

Talking to ThePrint, Arun Shourie, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member, said the Supreme Court must restore Verma as CBI director if the case against him fails to hold up.

“The Supreme Court should see why Verma has been asked to go on leave…” he added, “You can’t put up a rogue officer [Asthana], he starts fighting with the director, and then you say, both must go.”

A former Delhi Police commissioner, Verma took charge as CBI director in February last year.

“Why have you removed the director when his term was two years?” Shourie said. “If they (the Supreme Court) do not find adequate grounds, he must be restored… Then he must continue to do his job until his retirement.”

Justifying his removal Wednesday, the government said that the decision was based on a recommendation from the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), a supervisory agency for the CBI, adding that Verma hadn’t cooperated in the latter’s investigation against him.

Shourie dismissed the argument, raising questions about the CVC’s role.

“The CVC is party to all this,” he said. “There have been many misgivings about K.V. Chowdary’s appointment (as chief vigilance commissioner) as well… So, he is very much party to all the things that are happening.”

‘Yours and mine’

Shourie, a staunch critic of the Modi government, said Verma’s removal stemmed from the government’s efforts to shield their own “favourite officer [Asthana]”, and to prevent Verma from looking into things “inconvenient” for the administration.

“Verma is known as an independent officer, who does not buckle under pressure,” he said.  “That is obviously not suitable to this government.

“The director and the staff have been doing the right thing in investigating an officer, even when they knew the officer has the backing of the Prime Minister,” Shourie said, again referring to Asthana, a Gujarat-cadre IPS officer who is known to be close to the Prime Minister.

Accusing the Prime Minister of filling the CBI with “favourites” from Gujarat, Shourie said, “When you prostitute an investigating agency or a police force into a private army, these consequences naturally follow because some officers will be yours, some officers will be mine.”

Shourie added that rows similar to that between Asthana and Verma were underway in all the other investigating agencies, including the National Investigation Agency and the Enforcement Directorate, saying the CBI battle took an ugly route because Verma did not yield.

‘Is CBI God?’

However, even as he admitted that the controversy had severely dented the CBI’s reputation, he said it was important to correct the “common perception” about the agency.

“The common perception [about CBI] has been completely wrong,” he added. “I have been arguing against it for many years. Anything happens, people say CBI should inquire. Is the CBI God?”

“They [CBI officers] are just police officers transferred from states to a central agency, that’s all,” he said. “Why do you expect them to behave differently here, suddenly, because they are sitting in one agency called the CBI headquarters?”

He also said the row will take a toll on PM Modi’s image as a strongman, which he added was “misplaced” anyway.

“I also fell for PM’s reputation, I am sorry to say,” he said. “And that is a completely misplaced reputation and he has proven that he just does not have the administrative capability that we thought he had.”

“He has lost the grip on administration, forget the country,” Shourie added. “After all, it is the PMO that controls all of this, and this is the result of their control?”

The Prime Minister was running the country like he ran Gujarat, even though he had been advised against doing so, Shourie said.

“He had been counselled before he came here that Delhi is different from Ahmedabad, and you’ll have to conduct yourself in a different way,” he added. “I also told him.”

An earlier version of the report said Rakesh Asthana had moved the Supreme Court when he has actually approached the Delhi High Court. The error is regretted.