This is old news - Rajiv Gandhi is dead, Rao is dying anyway due to ill health.
Will history repeat itself.
Umesh
Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Corruption in India or, for that matter, in any country has ceased to
be big >news.
*** I wished Sri Nayar were a tad bit more careful in making that assertion.
*** I would like to hear from all our friends who are partisans to
maintaining the status-quo and not upsetting the apple cart by attempting to
usher in major reforms.
Below, highlighting mine.
cm
Between the lines
Corruption at High Places
Kuldip Nayar
Corruption in India or, for that matter, in any country has ceased to be big
news. Governments and societies have become so tainted at every level that
people, although unhappy, take scams in their stride. Yet, once in a while, a
nation is rudely shaken by the disclosure of a scandal which it knew it was
there but could not get hold of any details at that time.
A topmost retired official of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has
provided flesh to the bones of Jain hawala case in a book. Ten billion rupees
passed hands and the people involved were the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha
Rao, the then chairman of Steel Authority of India V Krishnamurthi and the
ineluctable Quattarocchi, an Italian national who was known for his contacts.
The Jain hawala scandal rocked the country in the nineties and engaged the
attention of even the Supreme Court for more than two years. The then Chief
Justice of India JC Verma said that he was under pressure and threatened to
speak out. But his threat turned out to be a whimper. The case ended tamely
because the CBI became 'inert' when it came to taking action against the
powerful sections of the society. It was proved once again, if any proof was
required, that the CBI functioned like any other government department to carry
out executive commands rather than working impartially and
fearlessly to uphold the law of the land. The truth about the Jain hawala
scandal is stranger than fiction.
The case began with the arrest of Ashfaq Hussain, engaged in funding
terrorists in Kashmir. He received money from abroad through the hawala, a
private channel which foreign banks ( not banks, but individuals) used. While
conducting raids on a hawala dealer at Delhi, the CBI came to seize some
diaries. They contained the abbreviated names of serving and former ministers
and bureaucrats. The amount passed on to them was indicated against their
abbreviated names. These were kickbacks the officials and the politicians
holding high offices had received for favours shown to Jain in various projects
and economic deals. The case was registered against 115 people. JK Jain was the
main culprit. He told the CBI about the mechanism: how he was managing
sanctions of various projects at inflated rates and distributing money thus
earned among the high-ups. Quattarocchi worked at the highest political level -
that of the Prime Minister's Office as well as the Prime Minister. During
the interrogation, according to the top retired CBI official, Jain said that
"he had passed on Rs 3.35 crore to PV Narasimha Rao" who took over as the
Congress president after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination and subsequently became
the Prime Minister. "On the direction of Narasimha Rao, the money was moved to
his account through Captain Satish Sharma, Chandraswami, etc."
A total of 10 per cent was passed on as kickbacks. Jain got three per cent
and Quattarocchi seven. The latter was helped by the government, first to
escape from India and then to get the kickbacks which the banks abroad had
frozen at New Delhi's request. The Supreme Court has caught up with the CBI and
asked how Quattarocchi got the money. Krishnanamurthi was the chairman of the
Steel Authority at the time when Durgapur Steel Plant was being modernized at
high costs. A Russian firm gave a cheque of Rs 15 crore as kickbacks under the
cover of payment for a consignment of some cast iron equipment that was taken
from India but shipped back in the form of components. The firm inflated the
cost of consignment to be able to pay Rs 15 crore. But the whole transaction
was all on paper.
The top retired CBI official says that he wanted to ''investigate Narasimha
Rao, search if need be and charge-sheet if the evidence so warranted". The then
CBI director not only stopped him from going ahead, but shunted him out of the
agency. I corroborated the facts when I met the retired official. He is a
forthright person who was transferred 23 times in twelve-and-a-half years.
A few days ago when the present CBI director told newsmen at Delhi how the
agency had functioned successfully last year, he could not naturally talk about
pressures. But he was quite embarrassed when asked why the CBI was tardy in
taking action against BSP leader Mayawati for the Taj Mahal corridor scam.
However, since his press conference, the CBI has filed a case, even though
after the Supreme Court's admonition. Again, the director had no cogent defence
for not filing an appeal against the acquittal of former Bihar Chief Minister
Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife in the case of accumulating disproportionate
wealth. When needled, the director admitted that the central government would
have to give permission for filing the appeal.
True, some CBI directors have been more loyal than the king. They did not
want to take any action against people who were either in authority or have
connections with them. For example, the retired CBI director K Vijaya Rama Rao
did not want to move against Naraismha Rao. Present director Vijay Shankar
seems to be dragging his feet in the case of Lalu Yadav. It is apparent that
the Manmohan Singh government, which has the CBI under it, does not want to
displease Mayawati and Lalu Yadav, the allies at the centre. The Congress-led
coalition needs to keep its brood together. It cannot afford to alienate any of
its supporters. Lalu Yadav's acquittal may still be challenged because the
Bihar government, headed by Nitish Kumar, his political rival, proposes to file
an appeal. Still, the National Human Rights Commission's suggestion to have the
CBI on the Concurrent List has merit. Federal crimes are increasing and New
Delhi is feeling helpless because the CBI needs the
permission of the State concerned before instituting even an inquiry.
There is only one inference: the CBI should be made autonomous if it has to be
effective. Even the proposal of supervision by the Vigilance Commission has
been shot down. By changing masters, the CBI could not become independent in
its functioning. Important investigating machinery like the CBI has to be
directly under Parliament. Only then would it perform. Whatever else is done
will only be a palliative. The malady is too deep. As long as the chief
ministers are the ones to decide who will be prosecuted by the CBI and when,
corruption at high places will not go.
When the Administrative Reforms Commission, appointed by the Manmohan Singh
government, says that the Prime Minister should not be brought under the ambit
of Lokayukta (ombudsman), how does one deal with the corruption cases of Prime
Ministers like Narasimha Rao?
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Umesh Sharma
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Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005
weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
website: www.gse.harvard.edu/iep
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