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Recently the parliamentary standing committee on Home Affairs advised probe agencies to ensure citizens’ rights during the course of investigations. The parliamentarians were well within their right to urge the probe agencies not to cross the thin line that exists between an inquiry and violation of rights. But, a close look will reveal that there was really no need to teach our security personnel a lesson about democracy. Beyond a doubt, if Indian democracy has lost some of its shine, it is due to politicians and not because of our law enforcers. In India, politicians irrespective of their political affiliation always intend to dominate the police and probe agencies for their narrow personal gains. They praise the law enforcers whenever their demands are met and do just the opposite if their wishes are not fulfilled. As a result, it is difficult for our protectors to serve the nation impartially. This is actually hurting the democracy as it is all about providing justice to each and every citizen and not to ensure someone’s rise to a phenomenal height.
Echoing the same view, a number of years ago, the Supreme Court lambasted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a ‘caged parrot.’ CBI was formed to inquire about economic offences. Later, its area of operation increased. With limited resources, CBI is still the premier investigating agency in the country. Its efficiency has not been affected due to increase in workload. However, the investigating agency was always on the dock due to their political bosses. More often than not, the agency is used to settle political scores, rather than punishing culprits. It may be mentioned here that a few years ago, an upcoming politician was behind bars as he refused to follow the diktat of his party bosses. He was in jail for nearly two years on charges of disproportionate wealth. Now, the same leader is the Chief Minister of a state and no one knows the fate of the charges labeled against him by CBI. There are plenty of such instances where CBI was subjected to ridicule because of following orders of political bosses.
Thus it is no wonder that a number of MPs used the platform of the standing committee to express their displeasure over the refusal of the probe agencies to dance to their tunes. But putting the entire blame on the agencies under the government, will not bring back the lost shine of India’s democracy. To regain lost glory, politicians will have to behave more responsibly by not allowing personal interests to dominate political agendas. Democracy becomes meaningless if the institutions cannot work independently and in an impartial manner. Politicians should not make effort to influence institutions. Former Prime Minister P. V, Narsimha Rao lamented over the decline of democratic institutions in our country. But till now efforts are on to undermine the importance of independent institutions in our country. Politicians should ensure that the institutions regain their supremacy and Indian democracy gets back its lost shine, without making irresponsible comments.