As the >CBI raid on DMK leader M.K. Stalin’s house on Thursday came soon after the party withdrew support to the UPA government, the Opposition accused the Centre of indulging in political vendetta which was understandable. What was not was the criticism of the CBI by the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister and Sonia Gandhi. Were they objecting to the CBI’s action per se or the timing of the raid?
Is the CBI expected to take permission from Ministers for every operation it undertakes? Or is it expected to treat political leaders differently? Is the Congress still nursing hopes of reconciliation with the DMK? If not, why are its leaders on the defensive?
R. Mallika,
Chennai
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the raid was unfortunate, it should not have happened, the government was not aware of it, he was very upset … and the CBI called off the raid. By saying the government was not aware of the raid, was Dr. Singh implying that had he known, he would have instructed the CBI to defer the raid for some time?
S. Raghothaman,
Chennai
Why should Dr. Singh be upset if the investigating agency has reasons to act? Even stranger is the fact that the CBI stopped the raid under pressure from New Delhi, proving that it is a puppet in the government’s hands.
Why spend the taxpayers’ money on an agency that can do practically nothing on its own?
R. Venkita Giri,
Bangalore
It is strange that both Dr. Singh and Mr. Chidambaram expressed their unhappiness over the CBI raid. It may be true that neither of them ordered it. But it is clear that they ensured that the CBI did not raid Mr. Stalin’s home all these days because such a step would ruffle the feathers of their staunch political ally.
A.V. Reddi Sastri,
Srikakulam
The CBI has every right to conduct a raid on Mr. Stalin’s house to verify the allegation against him. Politicising an economic issue is nothing but a digression from the issue.
K.S. Sundaram,
Bangalore
The timing of the CBI raid certainly gives rise to suspicion. That said, if there is prima facie case against a person, there is no reason the investigating agency should not go about its work, regardless of the timing. It is pointless to blame the CBI for doing its duty. The speed with which Central Ministers and the Prime Minister attempted to distance themselves from the raid is amusing.
As all bigwigs forcefully denied the role of the ruling party in this case, it can be presumed that all other cases in which such denials have not been forthcoming were acts of political vendetta. It is hoped that CBI officials will not be made to suffer for the alleged mistiming of the raid.
S. Ramaswamy,
Chennai
