Author: Coomi Kapoor
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 22, 2005
The Department of Personnel has
written to CBI Director US Mishra asking him to clarify whether the views
attributed to him in an interview to a Delhi Newspaper last month were,
in fact, his own. The government feels that the CBI director overstepped
his brief by claiming that the autonomy of the CBI was a myth and that
there were many pressures on the bureau. He even referred to the cases
being closed against a former petroleum minister (presumably Satish Sharma)
under pressure.
Misshra who has seven months left
as director cannot be removed since he has a protected tenure under the
new rules put in place by the Supreme Court. The CBI chief has been a thorn
in the UPA Government's side from the start. One of the CBI's first acts
after the installation of the Manmohan Singh government was to issue a
red corner notice to Ottavio Quattrochhi, Far from being crowed down by
the Government's disapproval, the director seems to have gone into overdrive,
doggedly following up the cases against Mayawati for disproportionate assets.
With the BSP chief now threatening to withdraw support to the UPA Government,
the Government is hard put to explain that the CBI is not acting at his
bidding.
Parallels are sought to be drawn
to Joginder Singh who as CBI chief registered cases against the government's
allies and helped bring about the downfall of the Deve Gowda government.
But the comparison is not apt, Singh was a maverick. Mishra a conscientious
professional.
