A tweet turns tale
Finance minister Arun Jaitely’s rebuke against the CBI was significant as it comes when the agency’s reputation has been demolished by the government of the day itself and today it has been left with no head. The fiasco in the agency over the last few months has led many to believe that the Modi government has left it high and dry because of constant interference. Jaitley is currently under treatment for soft tissue cancer in the US. Modi has temporarily allotted the finance portfolio to Union railways minister Piyush Goyal. Certainly the reason(s) that had led the influential minister to make such a harsh comment was compelling. Jaitley’s comments were prompted by the CBI case against former ICICI boss Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Venugopal Dhoot, the head of the Videocon group. It has been alleged that Dhoot transferred a majority of the loan amount he received from the ICICI bank in 2012 to Nupower - a company owned by Deepak Kochhar and two of his relatives. The CBI was probing the roles of CEOs-Sandeep Bakhshi, Zarin Daruwala and KV Kamath-as they were part of the ICICI committees that sanctioned the loans to the Videocon group. ICICI gave loans worth Rs 3,250 crore to the Videocon group in 2012. On January 22, the CBI filed a first information report on the basis of the preliminary probe report.”These loans have turned NPA resulting in wrongful loss to ICICI Bank and wrongful gain to the borrowers and accused persons. The role of these senior officers of the sanctioning committee may also be investigated,” the FIR said. Jaitely had tweeted : “There is a fundamental difference between investigative adventurism and professional investigation” while commenting on the ICICI case. Further, Jaitely continued : “Adventurism leads to media leaks, ruins reputations and eventually invites strictures and not convictions. In the process, the targets are ruined because of harassment, loss of reputation and financial costs. It costs people their career,” he wrote, adding a word of advice for the CBI, “Follow the advice of Arjun in the Mahabharat -Just concentrate on the bull’s eye.” Under normal circumstances, the Union finance minister’s strong comments on an ongoing probe into an alleged bank fraud would attract sharp attention. Thus when the country’s finance minister, considered to be among the tetra-top of the Modi government says something, it resonates across the nation and even beyond. Many believe that more than Jaitley’s concerns for investor sentiments- which has anyway remained low in the last few years - was his desperation to keep the corporate sector happy that prompted the quick response on the issue. In the ICICI alleged fraud, the CBI has only expressed the need to examine these corporate honchos and has not pressed any charges against them. However, that was enough for the Union finance minister to stand up and defend them. This shows the pull of the corporate sector in the Modi cabinet. After Jaitley’s rebuke the officer involved in the ICICI probe was transferred. Jaitely’s concern for the CBI’s “adventurism” did not include many past probes where reputations of many senior bureaucrats were damaged. Instead, as the Union government’s record show, it does not hesitate in trampling over public institutions if doing so meets its immediate political objectives.
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