Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar on Monday defended the Central Bureau of Investigation in the 2G spectrum case, citing the Supreme Court's observation that the CBI probe was progressing satisfactorily.
“I will comment only about what the Supreme Court has said in the recent judgment that the investigations are progressing satisfactorily,” Mr. Kumar told The Hindu on the sidelines of the 4 anniversary celebrations of the Vigilance Study Circle, Bangalore chapter.
“This inference should not be drawn that they [the CBI] are not doing it [2G scam investigation] properly. Fact of the matter is many people are behind bars,” Mr. Kumar said while refusing to comment on allegations that the CBI was slow initially in the probe.
The Supreme Court, in its order on Thursday, sought the help of the Central Vigilance Commission in monitoring the 2G case. “The CVC and the senior vigilance commissioner have been asked to assist the Supreme Court in giving their comments. We will do that and we are trying to do the job to the best of our ability,” Mr. Kumar said.
The Commission monitoring the CBI was not new as the CVC was mandated by the CVC Act, 2003, he said. “They [the CBI] regularly meet us once a month and brief us on major cases. We also pursue what kind of prosecution and sanction that they [the CBI] can get.”
Mr. Kumar said the Commission was finalising the report on alleged irregularities in the multicrore Commonwealth Games. “We have been working on this for a year and are counter-checking so that there are no errors in the report.”
Vigilance Commissioner R. Srikumar, who is investigating the matter, said the report would be ready “very shortly.”
“Twenty-five reports have been submitted already before the CWG in October 2010. We are in the process of consolidating and bringing out the final report, which will look into issues including how the projects were implemented and executed,” he said.
