CBI needs autonomy to be effective, says former director

AHMEDABAD: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should be made autonomous to make its investigations effective. This is what former director general of CBI and head of the special investigation team that probed the Rajiv Gandhi assassination D R Karthikeyan said during his visit to the city on Monday.
Karthikeyan was in the city for an annual techno-management symposium called 'I-fest' at Nirma University.
Speaking of how the CBI is susceptible to facing political pressures, particularly from ruling parties, Karthikeyan said that he was bombarded with phone calls from political leaders in an attempt to influence the investigation process.
"At present, the CBI depends on the government for everything. To make it effective, it should be made into an autonomous body, something of the nature of the Central Vigilance Commission," said Karthikeyan. "It should be a body which is completely free from political parties and bureaucrats. It should report only to parliament and be answerable to the Supreme Court about its investigations."
Karthikeyan also said that the anti-corruption bureau and the CBI should not be separated from each other but should be one unit. Neither would be able to function effectively in separation.
Along with chief commissioner of excise, Gujarat, Lipika Majumdar and CMD of Gujarat NRE Arun Jagatramka, Karthikeya was judging an event called 'Gujarat NRE National Integrity Theme Contest' which is a part of the three day long I-fest.
Speaking to students at the event Karthikeya said, "The level of corruption in the country has increased to a worrisome level. The time-consuming nature of litigation and loopholes in the laws make it difficult to combat corruption. There is also a lack of political will to fight corrupt practices. When the entire system is corrupt, anyone who is against the government gets the sympathy of the general public and recent examples reflect this fact. Even honest people are compelled to resort to corruption for fear of losing out to competition."