| On 19 July 2018, the CBI filed a supplementary chargesheet against former Union Home Minister and Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, his son Karti Chidambaram and five other public officials including a former Secretary, a Joint Secretary, an Under Secretary and a Joint Director of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance in the Aircel Maxis case. This case in which the CBI filed fresh charges against Chidambaram four years after the first chargesheet filed was yet another case where the government in power was using the CBI for conducting a political witch-hunt. |
| The Aircel Maxis case started in 2006 when politician-advocate Subramanian Swamy moved the Supreme Court and demanded an investigation. In 2014, the CBI filed a chargesheet against the two Maran brothers -Dayanidhi and Kalanidhi, the first of whom had been Union Minister of Communications, while the other was at the helms of the Sun Media Group - and some other officials, but the case was dismissed by the Special CBI Judge OP Saini who concluded that no criminal offence had occurred. After the BJP government came to power, the CBI reopened the case, and it is now under revision. |
| Meanwhile, Swamy had been insisting from the very beginning that Chidambaram should be criminally charged, alleging that he had earlier been the approving authority for the deal between Aircel and Maxis. But then, this had always been the charge against Chidambaram. So, the question was: why did the CBI fail to prosecute Chidambaram earlier? Should we not assume that it was because, back then, they were under the influence of the UPA government? |
| The alternative assumption would be that there was no case, and that they are influenced by the BJP government now. Either way, it shows the CBI m a very bad light. The bureau's officials must explain this gap in their investigation, which seems to have changed its course with the change in government. |
| Successive governments, irrespective of party affiliation, have used the CBI to score political points over its political opponents. The irony is that several political regimes that came to power on an anti-corruption agenda conveniently steered clear of making real efforts to clean up the system. Yet the same leaders shout the loudest against corruption when they are part of the Opposition. In this circus, the people of India are taken for a ride. They repose their trust in political leaders who promise to take serious measures to tackle corruption, but every leader has so far failed them. |
| This trendy phrase that sounds like jargon from a futuristic science fiction movie was an order issued by the central government way back in the mid-eighties, which made it mandatory for the CBI to take prior approval of the -government before initiating even preliminary investigations against corrupt officers in all civil services of the rank/grade of Joint Secretary and above. |
| In effect, the provision was an instrument of political interference that undermined the CBIs autonomy. In a case where a CBI official has reason to believe that an offence has been committed, she or he would still need the governments permission to investigate the case. It put the watchdog on a short leash. |
A) Deceived or cheated
B) Failed promises
C) Gap in speech and action
D) Habitual liar
Correct Answer: A
Solution :
(a) If you say that someone has been taken for a ride, you mean that they have been deceived or cheated, [informal] When he didn't return with my money, I realized I had been taken for a ride. In the passage, this phrase has been used as follows: Yet the same leaders shout the loudest against corruption when they are part of the Opposition. In this circus, the people of India are taken for a ride. They repose their trust in political leaders who promise to take serious measures to tackle corruption, but every leader has so far failed them.
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