2 days into job, Arjun off on tangent: probe Rajiv murder

This despite the fact that the ‘‘Multi Disciplinary Monitoring Agency’’ (MDMA), set up by the BJP government—and whose term expires on May 31—has found little, its staff virtually unemployed.Now, the MDMA seems set for another extension.

The MDMA was set up after the Jain Commission indicted the DMK in 1998. This indictment was used by the Congress to pull down the Gujral government of which the DMK was a partner.

Now that the DMK is the Congress’s ally—its member Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan, under MDMA scrutiny, was sworn in as Minister—what’s Arjun Singh’s provocation?

‘‘My impression is the MDMA concluded there was nothing substantial against the DMK,’’ Arjun Singh admitted to The Indian Express today. ‘‘There is nothing much in that (against the DMK).’’

However, he added: ‘‘The last government ran the MDMA in a mechanical manner. It should be given an extension, more importance and emphasis. There must be be a final report soon and more chargesheets.’’

When contacted, CBI director U S Mishra said: ‘‘The MDMA is an active desk of the CBI. Some investigations are in progress and at this stage I cannot rule out the possibility of a supplementary chargesheet.’’

Facts speak otherwise:

• The MDMA has been given extension after extension but over the past year or so, has barely been able to add anything substantial to the eight ‘‘final reports’’ which are gathering dust in the CBI.

• Save a lone representative of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), there is nothing that justifies the ‘‘multi disciplinary’’ aspect of the MDMA now.

• The CBI has two offices for the MDMA, manned by 30-odd staffers who admit they have little to do and have given other assignments.

• MDMA staff say that besides asking for extension, they have been ‘‘busy’’ sending reminders to 23 countries where the conspiracy angle was being pursued. Of the 23 countries, only four have responded.

As for former Delhi High Court judge, Milap Chand Jain, who authored the controversial Jain Commission report, he would rather not elaborate. Early this year when the Congress and the DMK got together, Jain had told The Indian Express: ‘‘The Congress appears to have had a change of heart. If the DMK resumes to give support to the cause of Tamil Eelam as it did earlier, things may become difficult again.’’

Today, however, he was more reserved. Asked about Arjun Singh’s demand to get the MDMA back on track, he said: ‘‘I do not know what sort of work the MDMA has done so it is not possible for me to give any comment…Politics in New Delhi has completely changed. What can I say to all this?’’