Damning logbook: Ranjit Sinha meeting accused not ethical, says CBI ex-chief

New Delhi: There seems no respite for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or its director Ranjit Sinha. A Delhi court on Friday again pulled up the agency over the closure report filed in a coal block case against Kumar Mangalam Birla-owned Hindalco. This time the court slammed the investigative agency when the latter told the court that the original minutes of the screening committee meeting, in which Hindalco’s application related to coal block allocation was taken up, were missing. It seems that the CBI director and controversies share a symbiotic relationship. This is not for the first time that the premier investigation agency or its director has received flak either from the Supreme Court or from a Delhi court. Whether it was in the case of 2G probe, Ranjit Sinha’s alleged meetings with representatives of companies facing CBI probe, the coal block allocation case, issuance of a court notice to Sinha seeking explanation over the controversial visitors’ logbook at his Delhi residence or his plea to restrain the media from reporting on the matter — the CBI has no dearth of reasons to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. However, the controversy hounding the CBI chief right now points to a serious breach of ethics as contents of the visitors’ logbook at his residence have become public, showing that some of the accused in the 2G and coal block cases among others visited him frequently, as much as 100 times in some cases. “It’s absolutely unethical. How can a CBI director meet those ‘visitors’ who’re either accused or have been named in the investigation at his residence?” asked former CBI director Joginder Singh. “There’s hierarchy within the agency and the investigation officer (IO), whether a DSP, SP or special IG, should deal with the people on whom investigation is taking place, and not the top boss,” he explained. [caption id=“attachment_1703433” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] CBI director Ranjit Sinha in this file photo. AFP image[/caption] Citing the Bofors case, the former director claimed he had never met any defence official when the case was under investigation in his tenure. “I ensured not to meet anyone and directed that such communication should be dealt by the IO,” Singh said. The visitors’ logbook issue has raised eyebrows among legal fraternity as well, with many questioning the functioning of a CBI director. “This is gross misconduct on part of the topmost official. There can’t be any justification for meetings between those against whom the agency had been conducting investigation and the CBI director at his residence,” said eminent lawyer and Rajya Sabha member, KTS Tulsi. “Had it been some other official from any other department or office, by now search and seizure operation would have been conducted on the person to find out whether the person has any disproportionate property, and prosecuted,” said Tulsi, the former additional Solicitor General. He added, “Earlier, people at top places had been clamouring for independence of the CBI director, so that he could function with freedom and without pressure from any quarters. But independence without accountability leads to this kind of situation.” “If the logbook entries are correct, which I’m not aware of, then whatever has happened is highly condemnable. One can easily draw conclusion that the investigation has been compromised. If the top boss is meeting those on whom the probe is on, it would definitely demoralise the subordinate IO,” remarked Shakti Sinha, a former senior bureaucrat and present chairman, South Asian Institute for Strategic Affairs. Questions have also been raised on the appropriateness of the director meeting “visitors” at his official residence. “The CBI director isn’t operating from a district camp office, where it’s usually an office-cum-residence arrangement, unlike Delhi where the director operates from CBI headquarters. So, why are people meeting him at his residence?” questioned Sinha. The beleaguered CBI chief had earlier told a business daily that there was a “deep-rooted conspiracy” behind the leak of the “visitor register” and said he did not know if “corporate warfare or personal enmity” was the reason, while alleging that he was being snooped upon. On Friday, Special Judge of a Delhi court Bharat Parashar told the CBI that the agency had made a “mockery” of the closure report in the Hindalco case and that the CBI should “keep its house in order”. Meanwhile, Sinha filed his affidavit in a sealed cover in the Supreme Court on Friday, in relation to the accusations regarding the controversial logbook and the matter would be heard by the court on Monday. At the same time, a bench led by the Chief Justice of India RM Lodha issued a notice to Sinha on a plea seeking his removal from the probe into the coal block allocation cases. The plea by NGO Common Cause, a petitioner in the Coal scam cases, has also asked for a special investigation team to probe. “It’s said a man is known by the company he keeps. How could the top official remained oblivious of his ‘friends’ for so many years, who have been named in some case or the other,” quipped Joginder Singh.