ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

A case of red herrings

What is the best way to spread disinformation? Spice it up with just enough truth to make it credible. Is that tactic being used to muddy the investigation of the Romesh Sharma affair?

Well, I can't help thinking so after seeing alleged CBI documents finding their way into newspaper headlines.

I realise some readers probably don't have the faintest idea of what I am talking about, so here is a recap. On Monday, December 21, a Delhi-based newspaper published a list of politicians and civil servants who allegedly were potential sources of investigation by the CBI. When that agency denied the report, the newspaper published what it claimed was a letter from the CBI to the Union home ministry. I believe this letter is a forgery.

There are two reasons why such a document was forged but I shall come to these later. Let me begin by giving the reasons why I believe that the document is a forgery.

To begin at the top, the letterhead reads 'North Block'. True, the CBI director has a room in the rabbit-warren, but the agency does not, repeat not, operate out of North Block. Its offices are at the CGO Complex several miles away (next to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in case you want a handy landmark). A genuine CBI letterhead carries the CGO Complex address.

Second, the document published by the newspaper following the CBI's denial, is of the second page. The CBI claims it never uses a letterhead except on the first page. Nor is the date typed; it reads 'Dated the - December 1998' -- with the space for the specific day left blank.

The third point is necessarily subjective, but I hope you will bear with me on this one. The language is wrong, it is just not the 'officialese' that is used by the agency.

But the forgery -- as I believe it to be -- is a very clever one indeed. At a rough estimate, I would say that 80 per cent of the politicians named in the document and about 60 per cent of the civil servants did have some kind of link to Sharma. It is also undoubtedly true that the CBI has sent a report to the Union home ministry following Sharma's interrogation. But it must be remembered that Sharma isn't exactly someone to be believed outright; it remains to be seen whether he told the truth or plucked names from the air.

The forger took some pains but not enough. He got a letterhead printed but it wasn't a good replica. He got some names -- no very hard task since the newspapers had been publishing one hint after the other ever since Sharma was arrested. And, now I come to the important part: he inserted some names in that list of probables.

The most important of these is that of N K Singh, secretary in the Prime Minister's Office. As I learn, Sharma never mentioned him. Nor, to the best of my knowledge, is he the subject of any CBI investigation through independent information received by that agency. But why was this forgery created at all?

First, the forger wants to create the impression that the PMO is planning a cover-up operation. And the proof of that is simple. N K Singh is not being investigated. But there is no proof of Singh's involvement -- other than that famous letter of course!

But there is a second motive other than flinging filth on the PMO (by implication on the prime minister too). The forger is trying to stir up trouble between the prime minister and the home minister, by suggesting that the Union home ministry is falsely implicating one of the PM's trusted aides.

This is another instance where the forger didn't do his homework. The CBI, which is supposedly dragging in N K Singh, doesn't operate under the Union home ministry. It comes under the jurisdiction of the Department of Personnel, which in turn operates under the aegis of the PMO.

The Romesh Sharma case has seen many twists and turns. Two files have disappeared. Attempts were made to divert attention by shifting the focus on Reliance Industries. (The CBI took the bait even if the public didn't). And when all else fails, the CBI letterhead is forged.

It all goes to show just how deep within the establishment Sharma's writ ran. Today, his powerful friends are running scared and will go to any lengths to put someone else in the dock. Judging by this ham-handed forgery, they should leave crime to professionals!

T V R Shenoy