The Italian proverb “The songbird in its cage sings not for joy but rage” most likely owes its origins to caged Indian parrots in Europe in the medieval period.
The ‘caged parrot’ metaphor was used for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Supreme Court on Friday while granting bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case.
Like Caesar’s wife, an investigating agency must be above board. Not so long ago, this Court had castigated the CBI, comparing it to a caged parrot. It is imperative that CBI dispel the notion of it being a caged parrot. Rather, the perception should be that of an uncaged parrot, Supreme Court judge, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said during the hearing.
The imagery of a caged parrot is centuries old and has to do with Vasco da Gama’s travels to India. The metaphor has been used by the Supreme Court for the CBI not just in the Arvind Kejriwal Delhi Excise Policy case, but earlier in 2013 in the coal scam case, when the Congress was in power.
The Supreme Court of India has made several observations and comments against the inefficient functioning of the CBI and still this is continuing without much improving the situation.
Though the BJP government has faced attacks from the Opposition for the misuse of central agencies, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice RM Lodha had way back in 2013, called the CBI a ‘caged parrot’.
That was when the Congress was in power at the Centre, and the Supreme Court lashed out over the government’s interference in the Coalgate case report.
“The heart of the report was changed on the suggestions of the government officials,” the court said over the huge controversy that the draft status report had been shared by the CBI with ruling party politicians and government officials.
Questioning the independence of the CBI, the Supreme Court likened it to a ‘caged parrot speaking in its master’s voice’.
One of the coalition partners in the Manmohan Singh government was the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party. Mulayam Singh Yadav said in April 2013 that he was at the ‘mercy of the CBI’. It is this cycle of political interference and mudslinging that has gone to dent the CBI’s image as a ‘caged parrot’. The parrot remains in the cage, whosoever might be in power at the Centre, the BJP or the Congress.
The agency acquired its present name, the Central Bureau of Investigation, only in 1963 on the recommendation of the Santhanam (a Gandhian) committee which went into the entire gamut of corruption in the government and recommended an overhaul of the existing apparatus to combat the menace.
But due to the excessive political control, the Central agency has been accused of enormous delays in concluding investigations.
Improving the image of the agency is one of the biggest challenges till now as the agency has been criticised for its mismanagement of several cases involving prominent politicians and mishandling of several sensitive cases like Bofors scandal, Hawala scandal, Sant Singh Chatwal case, Bhopal gas tragedy, 2008 Noida double murder case (Aarushi Talwar).
Lack of accountability is a major issue here. CBI is exempted from the provisions of the Right to Information Act, thus, lacking public accountability. Then, there is an acute shortage of personnel. A major cause of the shortfall is the government’s sheer mismanagement of CBI’s workforce, through a system of inefficient, and inexplicably biased, recruitment policies – used to bring in favoured officers, possibly to the detriment of the organisation.
The powers and jurisdiction of members of the CBI for investigation are subject to the consent of the State government, thus limiting the extent of investigation by CBI.
Prior approval of the Central Government to conduct inquiry or investigation on the employees of the Central Government, of the level of Joint Secretary and above is a big obstacle in combating corruption at higher levels of bureaucracy.
The CBI undoubtedly deserves to be strengthened and given a statutory status without any interference from any quarter. Without a strong political will the CBI cannot be freed from the government’s control.
What we need is an anti-corruption investigating agency with a total hands-off by any executive authority in its investigative work which is a quasi- judicial function. A strong public movement to compel the political leadership to pass an Act in Parliament to make the CBI independent is the only way ahead.