An open letter to Mrs Sonia Gandhi

Dear Mrs Gandhi,

Dr. Manmohan Singh is believed to be one of the honest Prime Ministers our country has had. But
ironically, he presides over arguably the most dishonest government machinery.

The latest in series of scams is the corruption in the Commonwealth Games. Despite charges of large-
scale corruption and inefficient management, Mr. Kalmadi, almost defiantly, says that he will not step
down till the Prime Minister or Sonia Gandhi asked him to do so. He seems to be confident that neither
of you would ask him to step down!

The scale and arrogance of corruption in commonwealth games is so bizarre that if it goes unpunished
this time also, then there is no hope for this country. Both Dr. Singh and you have said on several
occasions that those involved in corruption in the commonwealth games will not be spared after the
games. But which agency will investigate these cases?

The CBI? This is directly under the control of Central Government. It runs almost like its department. It
has been misused for political purposes almost by all successive governments and parties. With
allegations against people and politicians at high places in commonwealth games, it is highly unlikely
that the CBI would be allowed to do an unbiased and honest investigation.

Then we have the CVC, which is a toothless body. It neither has resources nor powers to investigate and
prosecute. Despite this, the CVC recently did a brilliant enquiry into some of the commonwealth
projects. It found several irregularities. However, CVC does not have the powers to take any action
against the guilty. It can only make recommendations. CVC has already done that and no action has
been taken against those identified. Because the people against whom action is proposed to be taken
are either those who themselves have to decide whether to take action or not or can influence such
decision making! Further, CVC does not have any jurisdiction over politicians. Therefore, the CVC’s
enquiries into commonwealth games projects do not enquire into the role of politicians.

To make matters worse, what can one expect from the new Chief Vigilance Commissioner, who has had
such a tainted past? One wonders whether he has been posted to effectively act against corruption or to
scuttle the enquiries into the commonwealth games and the telecom corruption charges and save the
government of a political embarrassment.

Besides the CBI and the CVC, we have no other anti-corruption body at the Centre. So, who will
investigate corruption in commonwealth games projects? The promises of effective action by you and Dr
Singh simply do not inspire confidence.

The whistleblower protection bill recently introduced in the parliament proposes to entrust the
responsibility of investigating complaints of corruption from whistleblowers and providing protection to
them to the CVC. Obviously, whistleblower protection is required in those cases where high and mighty
politicians and bureaucrats are involved. Interestingly, CVC does not have jurisdiction over politicians.
And it merely forwards the complaints against bureaucrats to respective department heads to
investigate and report back. So, if the head of the department himself is involved, who would investigate
such cases. Such serious flaws render the proposed whistleblower protection bill to be a showpiece
legislation.

These critical deficiencies in our anti-corruption systems were discussed in a meeting on 10th August by
none other than Justice Santosh Hegde (Lokayukta of Karnataka), Mr P Shankar (former CVC), Mr
Lyngdoh (former Chief Election Commissioner), Mr Prashant Bhushan (senior advocate of Supreme
Court) and a few others. Mr Pratyush Sinha, the outgoing CVC, was present as an observer. Minutes of
this meeting have already been sent to you earlier. According to this group, these critical deficiencies
have rendered our entire anti-corruption systems ineffective.

Those who participated in the meeting made a series of excellent recommendations -- Create a Lokpal at
the centre and Lokayukta at the state level to deal with corruption. They should have jurisdiction over
both bureaucrats and politicians. They should have resources and complete powers to entertain
complaints, investigate them and prosecute the guilty. These organizations should not need approvals
or permissions from anyone to initiate investigations and prosecutions. At the same time, they should
themselves be transparent and accountable in their functioning. Their appointment should be through a
transparent and participatory process.

When corruption reached its peak in Hong Kong in 1970s, their government created an Independent
Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and gave them complete powers. The Commission sacked 103
out of 107 police officers in one go. That sent a strong signal to the entire machinery that corruption will
not be tolerated anymore. Such swift and effective action is needed in our country, immediately.

Such effective action is needed in our country also. You created history by renouncing the Chair of the
Prime Minister. We urge you to create effective systems in our country to rid this country of corruption.

Yours sincerely,