Uttam's Take: A 'Caged Parrot'

Is the 'caged parrot' at work again, asks Uttam Ghosh.

Almost four years to the day before the Centreal Bureau of Investigation raided former Union finance minister P Chidambaram's Chennai home on May 15, Supreme Court Justice R M Lodha -- known these days for his efforts to clean up Indian cricket -- dubbed the CBI a 'caged parrot.'

Justice Lodha's comment indicted the then United Progressive Alliance government for using the nation's premier investigation agency to, in the words of the Reuters news agency, 'cover up wrongdoing, keep fickle coalition allies in line and political opponents at bay.'

The UPA was not unique in doing this. Most governments in the recent past have deployed the CBI to shackle adversaries and muzzle rivals.

The Congress, which led the UPA, has now accused the Narendra Modi government of doing precisely that after the raids on Chidambaram's home.

So, is the 'caged parrot' at work again, asks Uttam Ghosh in this Uttam's Take.