New Delhi: Over 11 years after the Supreme Court of India first dubbed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a “caged parrot” “speaking its master voice”, the “caged parrot” metaphor has once again come to haunt the country’s premier investigating agency.
CBI’s timing and motivation to arrest Kejriwal were suspect: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan
On Friday, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan who in his separate judgment on Delhi Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal’s bail petition has said that CBI must dispel the notion of it being a caged parrot, holding that CBI’s timing and motivation to arrest Kejriwal “were suspect” and due to extraneous factors.
In his judgment, Justice Bhuyan says, “In a functional democracy governed by the rule of law, perception matters. Like Caesar’s wife, an investigating agency must be above board. Not so long ago, this Court had castigated the CBI comparing it to a caged parrot. It is imperative that CBI dispel the notion of it being a caged parrot. Rather, the perception should be that of an uncaged parrot.”
Justice Bhuyan, commenting on the timing and necessity of the arrest of Delhi Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal by CBI in the alleged Delhi Liquor Policy scam, said, the arrest arises more questions that it answers.
Impressing on the need for CBI to have an impartial image, justice Bhuyan said, “CBI is a premier investigating agency of the country. It is in public interest that CBI must not only be above board but must also be seem to be so……. Investigation must not only be fair but must be seem to be so. Every effort must be made to remove any perception that investigation was not carried out fairly and that the arrest was made in a highhanded and biased manner.”
Buttressing his point on the timing and necessity of arrest of Kejriwal by CBI, justice Bhuyan said that CBI did not feel the necessity to arrest Kejriwal for 22 long months, I fail to understand the great hurry and urgency on the part of the CBI to arrest the appellant when he was on the cusp of release in the ED case.
Coal Scam case and CBI caged parrot
On May 9, 2013, the then Chief Justice of India, RM Lodha, slammed the country’s premier investigating agency, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and called it a ‘caged parrot’ speaking its masters voice, for its sloppy investigation in the coal blocks allotment scam case. While making the caged parrot remark, the court in unequivocal terms said that the CBI in the coal scam case had worked under political influence and acted impartially in probing the coal scam case.
The caged parrot remark was triggered by an affidavit filed by the former CBI director Ranjit Sinha in the coal scam case, where he disclosed to the supreme court that changed in the CBI investigation report in the coal block scandal had been changed at the behest of the then Law minister Ashwini Kumar and other government officials.
Madras High court and caged Parrot
In fact CBI’s role as an impartial investigating agency has drawn flak from high court too in the past. The Madras High Court in one of its judgment in the year 2021 passed a series of directions to government to follow so that CBI is freed from political influence.
The high court in its judgment said that they were passing directions to government to elevate the status of CBI to that of the Election Commission of India or the Comptroller and Auditor General of India so that the caged parrot is released.