CBI not independent… should not come under Lokpal: Justice Verma

Jurist who gave landmark judgment calling for independent CBI says it's 'anything but that'.

Even as the UPA government betrays its nervousness in completely unshackling the CBI,the judge who authored the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court that called for making CBI independent of pressures from political masters on Monday asserted that the CBI was anything but independent.

Most certainly not. The CBI is anything but independent, was former Chief Justice of India J S Vermas response when asked if 14 years after the judgment delivered by his Bench in the Vineet Narain case CBI had been made independent.

However,the jurist is also opposed to Team Annas demand that the CBI should be brought under the control of the proposed Lokpal.

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The CBI shouldnt be under the Lokpal. The need is to ensure that the agency is completely independent and not under the thumb of even the Prime Minister in so far as its investigation wing is concerned. Also,the creation of a separate,independent Directorate of Prosecution (DoP) for the CBI should finally be carried through, Justice Verma told The Indian Express.

There are indications that after dragging its feet on the issue of setting up an independent DoP for years,the UPA government,unable to make up its mind on the final contours of the Lokpal Bill,could finally move forward on the issue of hiving off the prosecution wing from the agency. Another suggestion that Justice Verma wants the government to implement is to bar the CBI Director from being appointed to any government post after his retirement.