Is CBI poised to catch big fish in Jammu and Kashmir?
While the erstwhile State’s own Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has completed investigation or filed charge sheets in a number of the matters lingering since long in the last three years, the Central investigation agencies have been remarkably proactive in Jammu and Kashmir after its reorganisation in August 2019.
Unlike the Central agencies, most of the ACB’s cases pertain to the alleged corrupt practices of the junior public servants. Very few of the senior J&K Administrative Service (JKAS) and IAS or IPS officers have been proceeded against, primarily for the fact that they happen to be either batch mates or seniors of the top functionaries of the organisation. In recent times, this is believed to be the main reason for the transfer of some high profile investigations, under judicial or administrative orders, from the ACB to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The ACB’s investigations into the encroachments and illegal constructions in the area of PatniTop Development Authority and the so-called Roshni Scam involved influential persons who, the judiciary endorsed, would fail the process. Previously, a high profile case related to alleged embezzlement of the J&K Cricket Association (JKCA) funds was transferred under court orders from J&K Police to the CBI.
However, three more high profile investigations—alleged irregularities in the allotment of civil works of the Kiru Hydroelectric power project, a healthcare insurance scheme for the government employees and the purchase of a multi-floor property in Mumbai by the Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd (JKB), allegedly in violation of the codal formalities and for exorbitant price—were transferred to the CBI directly under the Lieutenant Governor’s orders.
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