Behind the scene

Lead review

Though ‘CBI and 2G’ claims to tell the full story of the 2G scam and the role played by the CBI in bringing the guilty to the court of law, it ends up as a defence of what the CBI has done, notes M K Chandra Bose

As a beleaguered UPA government grapples with the latest revelations on the 2G spectrum scam, everyone is wondering whether the scandal will meet the fate of high profile cases like Bofors and Hawala scams. The public has a right to know about the fairness and impartiality of the investigation forced upon by the Supreme Court on a reluctant CBI. The seemingly one-track investigation focusing solely on A Raja and his cohorts while aggressively refusing to probe the role of P Chidambaram have raised misgivings on the course of the probe. The CBI cannot ignore why the prime minister failed to intervene to prevent the mammoth loot and where all the ill-gotten money had gone. The agency can’t escape the charge that it is treating some big corporates with kid gloves. Even at this stage the government refuses to come clean and there is no let-up in official efforts at obfuscation and stonewalling.

Magnitude of the fraud involving the high and mighty and the fast spreading revulsion against corruption have created an unprecedented public interest in getting to the bottom of the case. When a former CBI director writes a book with a catchy title, CBI and 2G, a reader expects a mine of hitherto hidden facts. Despite his impressive looking credentials, Joginder Singh, who had handled sensitive cases like Bofors and St Kitts as CBI chief, disappoints. Though the book claims to tell the full story of the 2G scam and the role played by the CBI in bringing the guilty to the court of law, it ends up as a defence of what the CBI has done. It touches only the surface. He goes by the CBI charge sheet alleging that Raja misled the prime minister, forged documents and bulldozed officials. With more skeletons set to tumble out, the full ramifications of the scandal remain to be unravelled.

Quoting extensively from the CAG report, the Shivraj Patil Committee report and the CBI charge sheet, the author describes how the former telecom minister, abetted by his key lieutenants, played havoc by ignoring the TRAI guidelines, law and finance ministries’ recommendations and the prime minister’s suggestions. The cut-off date was arbitrarily changed and the first come first served policy was not followed. While reproducing the letters exchanged between Raja and the PM on November 2, 2007 Joginder Singh seems reluctant to explore Manmohan Singh’s role. He notes: “Manmohan is not a weak PM as many like him to be” and he knows “when and how to strike when the iron is hot.” He doesn’t elaborate further. There is only a cryptic statement: “There are few things I would not write here, but they would come out in due course of time.” Is the ex-director of CBI holding back something? He says the PM’s acknowledgment of Raja’s letter shows that he did not want to press the issue beyond a point.

However, CBI and 2G serves as a useful ready reckoner. One chapter lists all the major scams that India witnessed. There is also a chronological account of the fraud and the dramatis personae involved — politicians, bureaucrats and corporates. Among the conspirators, Raja’s personal secretary R K Chandolia’s role stands out. CBI probe had found him resorting to strong-arm tactics to pressure senior telecom ministry officials in carrying out Raja’s diktats. He was the one who directed the official concerned not to receive any application after the receipt of application from Unitech, the biggest beneficiary of the 2G spectrum allocation. Joginder Singh cites the first telecom scandal involving Sukh Ram to show how the wheels of justice move in high profile cases. It took 13 years for the courts to find him guilty due to a series of adjournments and changes of judges. His appeal against the conviction is still pending.

He says Raja and the other accused will most likely follow the lead shown by convicted Sukh Ram. The only time he spent in jail was either in police or judicial custody. While stressing the need to speed up the disposal of cases, he briefly mentions the need to give adequate protection to witnesses in cases involving powerful politicians. Citing the huge backlog of vacancies in the agency, Joginder Singh asserts that no government wants to strengthen the CBI.

So many loose ends need to be tied up. Why was Nira Radia made only a witness, not an accused? Why only three employees of Anil Ambani group are among the accused, not the promoter? The book offers nothing to clear our misgivings. The author misses an opportunity to shed light on the selective approach adopted by the CBI. There is hardly any new information other than the media has reported so far. It is a big let-down, just a hotchpotch of poorly edited newspaper reports hastily assembled to cash in on public curiosity. Page after page marred by mistakes and repetitions stare the reader in the face.