NEW DELHI: It is not mandatory for the CBI
to inform or seek the permission of a chief minister or the Union
government before beginning a probe against a senior civil servant. A
provision in the law to this effect was struck down last year by the
Supreme Court. Tuesday's CBI raid on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's
principal secretary Rajendra Kumar hence was as per norms.
The
Aam Aadmi Party has questioned the CBI following the raid and had said
the CBI had not informed Kejriwal before raiding Kumar's office. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar too raised the same question.
"CBI
does not need prior permission from the Centre anymore to begin probe
against a joint secretary-level or above officer," former CBI director
DR Karthikeyan told ET. His view was seconded by another former CBI
director Joginder Singh. If Section 6-A of the Delhi Special Police
Establishment Act, which was struck down by the Supreme Court last year,
was still operational, CBI would have needed permission of the Union
home secretary to lodge a case against Kumar. The home secretary would
have consulted lieutenant governor or the CM before taking a decision.
"But no such permission is needed anymore. CBI is autonomous in this
regard," Joginder Singh said.
AAP
had welcomed the Supreme Court judgment last year, saying UPA and the
NDA governments had used the provision to "protect corrupt bureaucrats".
The Supreme Court decision followed arguments before the court by a set
of petitioners that mandatory approval from the government under
Section 6-A amounted to intimating the officers before commencing the
probe. The UPA government had argued before SC that since joint
secretary and above level officers were in decision-making positions,
and have to exercise discretion and take vital decisions, they had to be
protected from becoming the target of frivolous complaints.
The
'protection' meant CBI could not lodge cases or conduct raids against
senior officials without prior permission from the government, unless it
was a case of trapping. A bill moved by the NDA government this
Parliament session to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act has a
provision to make it mandatory for probe agencies to obtain clearance of
the Lokpal or Lokayukta before starting a probe against any public
servant for corruption. This includes those even below joint secretary
level officials too.
