The Nation: CBI [It's Back to Square One]

The agency's credibility will again be put to the test in the several cases that involve the ruling BJP's allies.

New CBI director Trinath Mishra (left) with Karthikeyan

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has spent most of his political life campaigning against corruption -- and against the CBI's reputation of being an arm of the Congress party. Since April 1987, when the Bofors gun deal issue surfaced, the list of unsolved, politically sensitive cases has been growing, giving enough ammunition to the BJP to attack its opponents.

While the Bofors case (see box) is expected to hog the limelight for some more years, the CBI investigators under new Director Trinath Mishra have an unenviable task ahead. Several politicians who face charges in one scandal or the other are now allied to the BJP. That apart, there are many "tainted" politicians in the United Front (UF) and in the Congress who may be willing to negotiate a settlement with, and effectively strengthen, the Vajpayee Government if they are insulated against prosecution.

Barring the short-lived V.P. Singh regime, nothing tangible could be achieved by any government in power in any sensitive case. Rather, thanks to judicial activism, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MPs bribery case, Jain hawala, Chandraswami and other cases were put to trial.

Now the tables have turned. The BJP will have to show that the charges it levelled as an opposition party were all not hot air. And there are enough pending cases for the prime minister to show that he means business. They include: the Indian Bank scam, the Airbus 320 deal, HDW submarines from Germany, J. Jayalalitha's foreign donations, Mayawati's pump float purchase, the LOC scam and the corruption charges against Buta Singh and Sukh Ram. Of course, there is also the Babri Masjid demolition case in which the BJP's top brass faces charges.

Indian Bank scam: The RBI pegs the loss resulting from the issue of unsecured loans to companies owned by those close to the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) at Rs 4,500 crore. A test case for the CBI, 24 firs have been filed against companies and persons in India and Singapore. M. Gopalakrishnan, the then chairman of the bank, was given six extensions. The case could not be pursued during the 18-month UF rule as the TMC was a ruling partner. The CBI says the Singapore Government too hasn't co-operated.

Airbus A320 deal: A criminal case of cheating and bribery filed on March 29, 1990, relating to the $1.2 billion deal for the purchase of 19 A-320 aircraft with an option to purchase 12 more later. Among those named in the fir were S. S. Sidhu, former civil aviation secretary, Captain K. Chadha, former MD of Indian Airlines, R. Prasad, former director (planning) and B.K. Bhasin, former deputy MD. Estimated loss to the exchequer: Rs 500 crore. The V.P. Singh government had sent Letters Rogatory (LR) to France, Switzerland, the US and other countries in this regard. The Swiss maintain that unless the Bofors case is settled, LRs will be held in abeyance. Appeals have been filed in various courts in the US and France.

HDW Submarine deal: No progress despite 10 years of investigation into the Rs 420 crore deal. Two LRs were sent to Germany to seek assistance but there has been no response. V.P. Singh has agreed to "divulge information" to the CBI if it approaches him.

Jayalalitha case: Of the nine cases against the AIADMK supremo, only one is pending with the CBI. This case was registered after DMK-TMC leaders pressured the then CBI director Joginder Singh to do so. Jayalalitha received a donation of Rs 3 crore from abroad and showed the same in her income tax returns during 1992-93. Since it was a gift in foreign exchange, no tax was levied. However, on the instructions of the then finance minister P. Chidambaram, an inquiry was ordered to identify the source of donation. An LR has been sent to the Channel Islands in the UK but a reply is still awaited. An acid test for Vajpayee as the survival of the BJP Government itself depends on Jayalalitha.

Pump Float case: The CBI has registered a case against Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati for causing a loss to the Uttar Pradesh exchequer in a deal involving the purchase of 300 pumps for the fire brigade during her tenure as chief minister. The case was registered on a complaint from the Kalyan Singh government, followed by the UF government.

Babri Masjid case: The CBI's case against Union Home Minister L.K. Advani, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and others for the demolition of the Babri Masjid is pending in a Lucknow court. The trial has not begun for one reason or the other though a charge-sheet has been filed. A politically sensitive case, all eyes are now on the CBI.

LOC scam: Assam Governor S.K. Sinha rejected the CBI's plea to prosecute state Chief Minister P.K. Mahanta. Now that the Asom Gana Parishad has decided to support the BJP, a decision by the CBI in this case has become crucial.The agency is planning to go in appeal. Whether the Government grants permission to it remains to be seen.

Other cases: Union Minister for Communications Buta Singh and his relatives are also facing a probe. A case of disproportionate assets has already been registered by the CBI against former minister Sukh Ram. Government sanction is also awaited for the prosecution of former ministers Shiela Kaul, P.K. Thungon and Satish Sharma.

With many of the cases concerning people who directly or indirectly have a say in affairs at the Centre, there is little doubt the CBI's credibility will again be put to the test, not to mention the tangled politico-legal web that the Vajpayee Government will be trapped in.

BOFORS CASE
Still Stuck

Ottavio Quattrocchi recently filed a petition in the Delhi High Court pleading that the arrest warrant against him be quashed and Interpol's red corner notice against him be withdrawn. The case is coming up for hearing on April 15, when the CBI is expected to produce evidence that Quattrocchi had transferred money -- the commission he is alleged to have received in the Bofors deal -- from his Channel Islands account to a different destination . Since this is believed to be Vienna, the CBI will now have to issue fresh Letters Rogatory against Quattrocchi in Austria. This may take at least a year. However, Dinesh Mathur, Quattrocchi's counsel, hastold the Delhi High Court that the CBI never called his client for assistance and that there is no evidence so far that money has been paid to public servants.

It is learnt that Quattrocchi approached Interpol in March '97 to get the red corner notice cancelled. He was told that it could be cancelled only when India, the issuing country, withdraws the non-bailable warrant against him. On March 31 last year, the Congress withdrew support to the UF government and the case got bogged down in the consequent political instability. As things stand, blowing the final whistle on the case will not be an easy task for the BJP Government.