Investigator not inquisitor: Madhavan

By S. Dinakar

CHENNAI, DEC. 13. Mr. K. Madhavan, former CBI joint director and now, anti-corruption commissioner of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, has handled several sensitive cases including the Bofors scandal.

In an interview to The Hindu today, he spoke of the challenges faced while examining the cricketers charged by the CBI with either fixing matches or having links with the bookies.

On the examination of the cricketers, he said the latter had to be given a free hand to explain their conduct because an investigator's role should not turn into that of an inquisitor, where the job was to harm people. ``In other words, the role of the investigator is like what Lord Krishna has said in the Gita, Parithranaya Sadhunaam Vinasayacha Dushkrtam (Punishment of the guilty and clearance of the innocent). If that is remembered by the investigators there can be no problem. The whole nation was following the case with interest.''

``Very often it has been said that just because a bookie like MK (Mukesh Gupta) has spoken to involve the players it should be taken that they are guilty. But we look at the corroborating evidence, the records of the phone calls made by the players to the bookies, and we get a clearer picture. The players' body language would include what in law is called the demeanour, which indicates the manner in they present their case. The eye movement, the contradictions that may come about, the language that is used, all these have to be assessed together. Of course, the most important thing is what they actually speak.''

Turning to Mohammed Azharuddin, he said the psychological factor of a hero who had been brought down in public esteem seemed to be playing in his mind. ``Because of that he had been taking a wavering stand. Finally when he found that I was willing to go even to Hyderabad, he relented. He appeared around 12 noon. Initially, he was a bit tense. Later, he relaxed when he found that I was willing to record everything that he said. My examination of him aroused mixed feelings in me. A person much younger than me, a person whose play I had enjoyed, was caught up in this whirlpool of allegations. Compared to me he is a young man, and did not know how to get out of this. Seeing the confusion in his mind, I as an individual, felt sorry for him. As a commissioner I had a duty to perform.''

Azhar's close proximity to M.K. on various occasions and his admission to the CBI that he had fixed a few matches seemed to have gone against him. ``There is no reason to disbelieve that the CBI statement was wrong,'' he said.

Speaking about Azhar's subsequent denials, Mr. Madhavan said, ``that many of them do, but if you go by the denial of accused persons, no case can ever be conducted. My experience in the past 50 years going up to the Bofors case, is that 99.99 of the accused say they are not guilty. People deny small mistakes, forget crime. Denial has only a limited value. It has to be assessed in the context of the evidence provided.''

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