By Quaid Najmi

Mumbai, Apr 9 (IANS): Way back in 1963, the Central government had set up the elite Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), intended to solve high-profile criminal, corruption, conspiracy or other critical cases which the local police were ill-equipped or incapable of handling.

Taking over from where the state police or other agencies failed to crack such complicated cases and/or book the culprits, the CBI soon acquired a deep halo and its name evoked dread among all and sundry.

Successfully solving multiple mega crimes, it soon earned the image of a Robin Hood-cum-Superman among the commoners who felt it could deliver them from all those corrupt, powerful or unscrupulous demons.

It didn't last too long. In the past few decades, particularly the last one, the CBI has been diminished "to an overrated national cop", working under the pressure of the (any) ruling party, overburdened with routine probes. The agency became susceptible to the very acts it was supposed to act against, leading to an overall loss of credibility, several retired officers aver.

A former ex-regional director terms the CBI's scorecard of the past 60 years as barely 35 per cent -- having a 'marginal impact' on crime or criminals, particularly the political or the while-collar varieties -- owing to lack of autonomy, low resources and staff and fingers in too many cases, some as low as graft of a few thousand rupees!

However, ex-Superintendent of Police, CBI Mumbai, Y. P. Singh, credits the CBI with "full marks" for some super-success probes like the 1991 Harshad Mehta-led stock market scam, the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case or the 2010 Adarsh Society scandal.

"But, the 26/11 (2008) Mumbai terror strikes has yet to reach its logical conclusion, so it can't be termed as glory. The probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput 2020, in which the outcome is obvious so the CBI should have filed its closure report… wonder why the delays," remarked Singh, now a leading lawyer in Mumbai.

A former Deputy SP from Nagpur feels that the CBI's wings have been clipped, the agency is "like a puppet" in the hands of the political masters, a trait particularly evident in the past decade or so, witch-hunts that often lead to long delays, unclear outcomes, or the cases dying a quiet death.

In fact, in 2013, the Supreme Court had come down heavily on the CBI, labelling it "a caged parrot speaking in its master's voice" and lamented that "there are many masters and giving unbridled power to the CBI is not possible".

The apex court also observed how "the CBI has become the police force and is in the administrative control of the Central Government", urging the need for "CBI investigations to be independent".

To this Singh says the SC's observations stand true even today as political interference has not stopped, and the CBI is demoralised, particularly after the amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act (Sec. 19) requiring prior sanction before prosecuting any public servant.

"Earlier, the CBI handled only the cream of cases, but today its bogged down with routine, the big fish are getting away but it is gunning for the small fry. I strongly feel that the CBI should be made fully autonomous and work under the Supreme Court's jurisdiction with time-bound probes," declared Singh.

Endorsing the "limited impact" of the agency in recent years, a former CBI deputy director said despite its trail-blazing contributions in cracking some of the biggest and most high-profile cases, today the agency is busy "probing mundane matters that a local police chowki can handle", or matters that "smack of personal rivalries-cum-settling political scores", that have unfortunately cast a blot on the once revered agency.

"All appointments are in the hands of politicians, so the agency seems to have acquired political colours which keep changing depending on the hues of the current dispensation… The CBI has become 'too common', has forfeited that rare "awe and fear factor", and is now treading on too many toes," he said, preferring anonymity.

Not surprisingly, the CBI can no longer barge into any territory it fancies as per the whims of the political masters, as witnessed in the past 9 years of the Bharatiya Janata Party rule at the Centre.

The Centre admitted in Parliament that as of December 2022, nine states have "withdrawn the general consent to the CBI" -- Telangana, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal, coincidentally, mostly ruled by the Opposition parties.

Maharashtra, where the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi regime had yanked off the general consent to the CBI, restored it in October 2022 after the new BJP supported government took over in June last year, for blatantly obvious reasons.

Mourning the loss of the CBI's glorious reputation, most former top sleuths feel that unless "some drastic measures are taken" the agency may completely erode its credibility or be reduced to a 'bogeyman' - like Gabbar Singh of "Sholay".