Delhi Confidential: CBI alarmed by leak of probe papers in case against Deshmukh

Top Secret: The CBI is so alarmed due to the leak of probe papers related to the case against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh that it has now deputed a DIG-level officer as in charge of the agency’s security. Officers are no longer allowed to use pen drives and everything coming in or going out of the agency is thoroughly checked. Officers have even been warned that any interaction with the outside world, including the media, about any case could result in dismissal from service. Last year, the CBI’s preliminary enquiry report against Deshmukh had come out on social media leading to embarrassment for the agency as it had concluded that no case could be made out against him.

Privacy restored: Physical hearings in Supreme Court had the advantage that judges sitting on a bench could chat with each other confidentially about the case before them without anyone else overhearing. But the advantage was gone with the hearings shifting to virtual mode because of the pandemic. To address this, the computer committee of the SC came up with the idea of ‘break out chat rooms’. Whenever the judges feel the need to consult each other, they go off the screen after alerting the counsel and move to the break out chat room. Everyone else disappears from the screen before the judges during that time enabling them to interact privately.

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