The CBI’s status, “a caged parrot with many masters,” is well known. This was all right for the cases it was originally intended to handle. But in recent times, the agency has been handling political cases involving financial wrong doings. Most such cases eventually land in the Supreme Court. The Court should make use of Special Investigation Teams to probe such cases. The CBI can return to its original role of a super police investigator. The national pursuit of everyone going after the agency can then be abandoned.
M. Balakrishnan,
Bangalore
It is not only the CBI but the entire police force that is a caged parrot. It is well known that criminal investigations as well as prosecution are vital factors in establishing justice. It is time to enact a law to make the CBI, the police departments of all the States and prosecutors independent.
S. Mohamed Kasim,
Nagercoil
As long as the CBI depends on the government for manpower, finance, etc., free and fair investigation will remain a pipe-dream. The Supreme Court has posted the next hearing in the Coalgate case to July 10, perhaps giving ample time to the Centre to work out a legal framework to translate its suggestions in letter and in spirit. The only solution seems to be to create a separate investigation wing under the proposed Lokpal and transfer high-voltage cases involving political functionaries and industrial tycoons to it.
S.V. Venkatakrishnan,
Bangalore
