'Why should the accused in scams visit the CBI chief so frequently?'
The Supreme Court last week ordered Central Bureau of Investigation Director Ranjit Sinha to recuse himself from the 2G case.
Earlier, activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan had alleged that Sinha, left, repeatedly met several accused in the 2G and Coalgate scams.
Bhushan is the lawyer appearing for two NGOs -- Centre for Public Interest Litigation and Common Cause -- in the 2G and coal scams respectively.
An entry register maintained at the CBI director's home by his security personnel provided information about the names, vehicle numbers and time of entry and departure of visitors who met with Sinha who will retire from the Indian Police Service on Sunday.
Bhushan, who is also a senior Aam Aadmi Party leader, recently told Rashme Sehgal why he took on Sinha.
What made you demand action against Ranjit Sinha?
I had been hearing about how Sinha had been trying to stymie the investigation on the Coalgate scam and 2G scam cases.
I have written to the prime minister about how he had been trying to destroy evidence in the 2G trial against several accused and also prevent the filing of the chargesheet in the Aircel Maxis deal.
What were some of the conclusions you arrived at when you went through the entry register maintained at Sinha's home? How did you lay your hands on it in the first place?
I had filed this at the end of August. At the time of the September 2 hearing, somebody gave us a copy of the guest register being maintained at his house.
It showed him having repeatedly met those accused in the coal scam. He met (meat exporter) Moin Querishi 90 times over a period of 15 months.
But that was only a photocopy?
Yes, but a week later, someone came and gave me the original dairy.
I filed both the photocopy and the original in sealed envelopes and placed them before the Supreme Court.
Sinha had removed two key CBI investigating officers who were looking into the 2G scam and the Dayanidhi Maran case.
I wrote to the prime minister to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him (Sinha) and remove him from the 2G scam case. But the government likes to deal with such people.
Sinha had questioned the veracity of this entry register.
The register is all hand written. It notes the time in which the people came to his house and the time in which they left. It gives details of all the car numbers. It also gives the names of the officers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and CBI on duty at that time.
What do you feel about Sinha's claim that 90 per cent of the entries in the visitor's dairy were forged?
First, he said some (entries) are genuine, others are forged. Then he changed his statement and said there was nothing wrong with meeting the accused.
Hardly anyone from the CBI had come to meet him. It appears as though he (Sinha) was largely operating from his house.
Why did you refuse to disclose the name of the whistleblower before the Supreme Court?
We had a meeting with CPIL (the Centre for Public Interest Litigation). Our unanimous view was that providing the names would prove to be a breach of trust.
The whistleblower had given us this information in confidence in order that the information be put to appropriate use.
Look at the case of Sanjay Dubey. He wrote to the then prime minister (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee that his name should not be made public. Unfortunately that was made public and he was killed.
There is a major ethical issue involved in all this.
Of course. Why should the accused in these scams visit the CBI chief so frequently?
The investigating officers of the CBI were not present during these meetings. If the accused had some complaint against the investigating officers, they should have given them in writing. But there is nothing of that kind.
If they were providing information about CBI officials, it should have been recorded.
The rules for the Whistleblowers Protection Act have still to be framed in order that it be implemented.
The Whistleblowers Protection Act is a very weak Act which states that anonymous complaints will not be entertained by the Central Vigilance Commission.
If the complaint comprises official documents of a serious kind, why will you not take cognisance?
Knowing the identity is important if someone sends you oral information without backing it with documents. But if the identity of the person is not relevant for ascertaining the veracity of a complaint, why leak the name?
Take the case of the Central Bank of India scam in which the name of whistleblower name was leaked. International norms of whistleblowers show that they need protection.
The government does not want to strengthen this bill just as they did not want to do the same for the Lok Pal bill. They were pushed by civil society.
The original Information Act 2000 brought by Vajpayee was very weak. Ultimately, the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government brought a stronger Right to Information Act.
Our CVC appointees also need to be strong and robust people.
A criticism levied against the Aam Aadmi Party has been the very abrupt manner in which Arvind Kejriwal withdrew from the chief ministership of Delhi. Your party has had to pay a heavy price for that decision as you were seen to be running away from responsibility.
That is difficult to say. Once we registered an FIR (First Information report) against Anil Ambani and Shiela Dikshit, the Congress would not have dealt with us or allowed us to govern properly.
They would not have allowed us to table the Lok Pal bill -- we were going to be crippled in any case.
You have been in the forefront of trying to protect the environment. How do you feel about the present government's approach towards handling this sensitive issue?
They have no understanding or concern for the environment. They think that environmental regulation is an obstacle to GDP development. This can backfire in a big way given that environmental degradation we are presently facing.
I think the government needs to understand the kind of health consequences we will face if they are unable to rein in air, water and industrial pollution.
Also, all our environmental regulations were built up in the last two decades after a long and painstaking struggle.
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