Many people have criticised the detention of the CBI team in Kolkata by the West Bengal police. This reminds me of what the great French Revolutionary leader Robespierre said when in 1793 he was accused of condoning illegal acts.
He had said, “But citoyens (citizens), the Revolution was illegal, the abolition of the monarchy was illegal, the storming of the Bastille was illegal. Do you want a revolution without a revolution (Vouliez vous une revolucion sans revolucion )? ”
Was the massacre of Muslims in Gujrat in 2002 (when Narendra Modi was Chief Minister ) legal? Was lynching of Mohammed Ikhlaque, Rakbar Khan etc by so-called gau rakshaks legal? Was the vandalisation of churches in Delhi and Chattisgarh and persecution of Christians in Odisha legal?
“I Can only laugh when people say that the detention of
the CBI team in Kolkata was in violation of the Constitution.
Which Constitution? A Constitution which has become a scarecrow?”
When in the Mahabharat War, Karna was unarmed and yet Lord Krishna told Arjuna to kill him (which was against the rules of war decided by the parties before the battle), was this legal?
I have said in my article Cheer Haran Day, published in theweek.in, that the Constitution of India has been torn to shreds by our politicians and has become hollow and an empty shell. So I can only laugh when people say that the detention of the CBI team in Kolkata was in violation of the Constitution. Which Constitution? A Constitution which has become a scarecrow?
And the CBI is a ‘caged parrot’ as the Supreme Court has described it. Most likely it will give a report as directed by its masters in Delhi. It is said that the CBI is investigating some scams by the West Bengal government.
There are the Nirav Modi scam, Vyapom scam, National Urban Livelihood Scheme scam, Modigate scam, Integrated Child Development scam (in Maharashtra ) etc. There is a scam about Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah’s sudden increase of wealth by 100 or, according to some estimation, a whopping 1000 times and not to forget the alleged irregularities of over Rs 30,000 crore in the Rafale deal.
But why is it not investigating the scams by the BJP governments ? Quora has mentioned 27 such scams (see online). For instance, the Adani Group was allotted 14,706 acres land in Kutch in Gujarat for Mundra Port and SEZ development at throwaway prices ranging from 1 to 32 rupees per sq.m.
Similarly, there is the scam of Gujrat State Petroleum Corporation which borrowed Rs.19,616 from public sector and private banks but has never started commercial operations.
There are the Nirav Modi scam, Vyapom scam, National Urban Livelihood Scheme scam, Modigate scam, Integrated Child Development scam (in Maharashtra ) etc. There is a scam about Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah’s sudden increase of wealth by 100 or, according to some estimation, a whopping 1000 times and not to forget the alleged irregularities of over Rs 30,000 crore in the Rafale deal.
Why does the CBI not investigate these? Is it because it is ‘caged’ by its masters? If Mamata Banerjee is opposing the CBI, all I can say is : all is fair in love and war.
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Supreme Court judge and ex-chairman of Press Council of India. Views expressed here are the author’s own.)
