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STATES: KARNATAKA
CBI's Limitations
Several examples
bear out the CBI point. In one case pertaining to a junior telecom officer,
after Kharge refused consent the Home Ministry sent the file back to him
at the CBI's insistence. Only then did he sign it but by then the JTO
had come to know the CBI was on his trail.
The Karnataka Government's defence is that the
Centre should amend the relevant Act if it thinks that any of the states
is hindering the CBI's work. Says Kharge: "There is no need for reviewing
the withdrawal of the general consent by the J.H. Patel government on
December 15, 1998. The absence of general consent is in no way hampering
investigations by the CBI, especially in corruption cases. The state gives
consent to the CBI on a case-by-case basis or in a batch of cases. There
is no delay on the part of the Government in according consent. It never
takes more than 48 hours to grant permission and utmost secrecy is maintained
with regard to the cases to be investigated by the CBI. The Government
is acting very judiciously."
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Investigations Stymied
By The Consent Rule
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Although Kharge says consent is granted
within 48 hours, the CBI say they have been waiting since July 1999
for consent to proceed against former IAS officer and Congress candidate
from Bapatla, J.D. Seelam, in a disproportionate assets case.
Consent has also been pending since April
2000 in a case of corruption involving state civil services officer
Shanthakumar and IAS officer Nagambika. The state's principal secretary
(Home) has been sent reminders twice since then but to no avail.
It took several weeks for the Government
to clear a raid on the residence of Karnataka Regulatory Commission
member and former chief commissioner of income tax Nalini Menon
following complaints that she showed undue favour to a firm.
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Kharge was evidently taking liberties with facts
when he said it did not take more than 48 hours to grant permission. Documents
available with INDIA TODAY suggest the delay is sometimes very long. In
six cases, the consent was received in 15 days, in eight cases the consent
took 15 days to a month. In 10 cases the time taken was between one and
two months. One case took more than two months. For three cases, consent
has not been received in over a year.
Senior BJP leader Jagdish Shettar says, "The
state Government should grant general consent. This is the only state
that has refused to do so.
Are they withholding it to safeguard some officials
or some politicians? What's the fear?" Given the readiness with which
other states have granted consent, Karnataka's reluctance is puzzling.
The only other state with a similar attitude regarding the matter is Manipur.
Vittal, whose office supervises CBI's work,
says, "Krishna talks about transparency. It is surprising why his
government is still not keen on giving general consent. Giving consent
is usually a political decision, so there may be some reasons why they
are withholding consent."
Bangalore has a very large presence of Central
government establishments: major defence-related institutions like the
National Aeronautics Laboratories, the Hindustan Aircraft Ltd, Bharat
Electronics Ltd and Aeronautics Defence Establishment, besides research
institutions like the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute
of Management. Several national banks have their headquarters here, including
Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank and Vijaya Bank. The order hampers investigation
in all cases involving employees of these organisations.
Therefore, at least one section that is happy
with the obstinate stand of the Karnataka Government is the very large
number of Central government employees spread over several institutions
across the state many of whom would have been under investigation but
for the consent rule. The watchdog is on a leash yet.
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