New Delhi, March 24
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had told the government that it did not have enough manpower to handle investigations into the Telgi scam. Despite this, the government insisted on transferring the case from the Special Investigating Team (SIT) to the CBI.
Last month, the CBI in a communication to the Union Home Ministry had said that it simply did not have the capacity to probe the complex dimensions of the Telgi scam. This did not have any effect on the government, which ordered the CBI to take over the case.
Senior officials of SIT say that this was done to delay the investigations till the elections are over. SIT was making progress in investigating the scam and had already claimed some high-profile scalps, including that of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chaggan Bhujbal, for their alleged involvement in the scam.
As reported earlier by The Tribune, the government wanted to keep the huge quantum of the Telgi scam, estimated by the Intelligence Bureau at Rs 33,000 crore, under wraps for fear of it affecting the “India Shining” campaign.
Senior officials say the pace of investigation by SIT, which was led by an upright official, was scaring out of their wits the corrupt officials and politicians who facilitated the scam. Even officials of the CBI say the decision to transfer the case was inexplicable as the CBI would have to start the investigations from scratch.
Senior officials told The Tribune that even the Intelligence Bureau had told the government that there was no reason to transfer the case.
Initially, both Maharashtra and Karnataka were resisting the transfer of the case but soon changed their tune after SIT made considerable headway. Analysts cite the developments on the Ayodhya charge-sheet which let Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani off the hook and the appointment of former CBI Director P C Sharma as a member of the National Human Rights Commission to question the CBI’s credentials.
Officials point out that since Independence, it is the first time the government has found a sinecure for a retired CBI official.
