Sending a clear message to CBI and the anti-corruption officials, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday asked them to go after the 'big fish', and not just focus on the petty cases.
"High-level corruption should be pursued aggressively. There is a pervasive feeling that while petty cases get tackled quickly, the big fish escape punishment. This has to change. Rapid, fair and accurate investigation of corruption in high places should remain a priority," he said while inaugurating the two-day conference of CBI and state anti-corruption bureaux in New Delhi.
And the officials seem to be taking the PM's message pretty seriously because the same day SC/ST Chairman Buta Singh approached the High Court for relief, and Income Tax men seized Rs 23 crore in cash and properties from a Jaipur broker with VHP links.
The Prime Minister was at a meeting with officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation, an agency lately accused of being a political puppet and struggling with corruption in its ranks.
Its image has been weighed down by a series of cases where the rich and the famous have walked away, allegedly because of shoddy investigation by its officers.
- Sanjeev Nanda in the Scorpion Deal
- Former defence minister George Fernandes in the Kargil Coffin deal
- Moninder Singh Pandher in the Nithari Killings
- Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 Sikh riots
The CBI took the Prime Minister's words pretty seriously.
"We in the CBI have decided to complete all our investigations within one year. We feel there is need to lay down a specified time-frame to complete the trial of corruption cases also," said CBI Director Ashwini Kumar.
Experts say the CBI can improve its record only if high-profile accused are tried and punished within two years. But carrying a backlog of 9,000 cases, amid a high dose of political interference, this is going to be one tough assignment.
