My CBI tenure would not have been half as successful as it was, but for the support which Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee lent me. It was such a pleasure meeting him at least once a month to brief him on the latest developments in the area of investigation of the more important cases.
He was nobility personified. Never did he ask me to do anything which was even remotely unethical. Our interaction was mainly one of a monologue. He just listened to whatever I told him, and that too intensively. After the very first meeting on my assuming charge, when the PM’s Principal Secretary Brajeshwar Mishra was present briefly, mainly to introduce me to the PM, no one was ever present when I briefed the PM. This ensured I could be candid and speak without any reservation whatsoever. I could not have asked for anything better.
A few days before I retired from the IPS and Directorship, I sought a meeting with the PM to take formal leave of him. I took the liberty of asking the PMO whether my wife could be present. A prompt response in the affirmative came. Shanti and I were on cloud nine when he received us with the charm and courtesy that only he could command. The first question he asked Shanti was: “Where were you hiding all these days?” The conversation thereafter could not have proceeded better. To suit the occasion, Shanti wrote a short verse of eulogy in Hindi and read it out to the PM. He was surprised at Shanti’s knowledge of Hindi and otherwise immensely pleased. This was a crowning moment in my career and I will cherish it forever.
In the Bofors case, after obtaining legal opinion (mainly of Attorney General Soli Sorabjee), I went up to Mr. Vajpayee to convey the news that I was soon going to lay the charge sheet against the accused (including the late Rajiv Gandhi). I was surprised that he did not react at all. I was trying to read his mind on a matter that could alter the country’s political scene. It was not as if I needed his permission to go ahead. I did not need his leave. But my assessment was that while taking such a momentous decision, I should not appear to be arbitrary and unilateral. So I thought I should give more time to the PM to mull over what I had told him.
A few weeks passed by without any reaction from the PM. I was a little perplexed, particularly because there was no one I could take into confidence. It was in the midst of such anxious moments that a call came from the PMO on one evening when my Special Director P.C. Sharma and I were travelling in my Ambassador car to meet someone. When we were near South Extension, the PM came on the line and merely said: “Go ahead!” and then hung up.
The two of us knew what this meant. I moved fast thereafter to proceed expeditiously to conclude what was going to be a critical event in the country’s political history.
(R.K. Raghavan is a former CBI Director)
