Will Praveen Sood be able to make CBI an investigation agency again?

New Delhi: So what’s going to be the first challenge of new CBI director Praveen Sood?

Well, very simple. To make it an investigation agency again!

In the last two years, under Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, the Central Bureau of Investigation “acted” more as the Central Bureau of Intelligence, very much like the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the domestic intelligence agency and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), the external intelligence agency of the country.

Here “acted” is the operative word as it doesn’t mean the CBI turned into an intelligence-gathering outfit like the IB or R&AW.

Under Jaiswal, strict access control measures were implemented in the agency. A security unit was created too, with lower rank functionaries brought on deputation from R&AW to fill it, within the agency ostensibly to plug unauthorised leakage of information from the CBI. All officers were told to stay away from the media and they were asked to report to their superiors if they got in contact with a media person.

The CBI officials stopped visiting the floors other than the one they had their office on as they rightly or wrongly felt scared that their new chip-based access card will log their visits within the agency headquarters and could be asked uncomfortable questions if there was any leakage of information.

Hence, the need is to turn again into an investigation agency.

Sood has also started with a handicap like Jaiswal or before him Rishi Kumar Shukla. All of them have or had no prior experience working in the CBI.

Old-timers say it takes bit of a time to understand the finer aspects of working of the CBI which primarily probes the charges of corruption within the government.

They add that by the time, the new boss masters the Prevention of corruption act, the Bible of CBI, six months from the total tenure of two years are already gone.

Sood, say his fellow officers, is a fast learner and might hit the deck earlier than his predecessors who also started with a similar handicap. In a note to fellow police personnel on leaving the post of Karnataka DGP, he wrote,” I considered every day as my last day on the post wanting to finish the agenda. At times, I would have been harsh because I felt that the ambition of pleasing everyone would not let me achieve my objective of development of the department.”

But in CBI wheels turn a bit slower than a state police force whose primary job is to maintain law and order.

As Sood begins his innings the CBI rank and file will be watching closely what steps he takes to begin his tenure and these steps will set the tone for the rest of his tenure.

In his note to Karnataka police personnel, Sood also talked about his role as “chief scavenging officer” as he disposed of old vehicles, dilapidated buildings, old records, and junk and brought money to the exchequer.

“Scavenging was not restricted only to physical garbage. Old procedures, practices and protocols which had outlived the test of time and utility were given a silent burial,” said Sood.

He will have to reprise the role of chief scavenging officer in CBI too, especially to get rid of officers who have been staying in the agency beyond the permissible limit of seven years. But here comes the big question - even if he manages to get rid of overstayed officers, will he be able to bring in officers of his choice as the government keeps a hawk-eye on his gets in the CBI on deputation?

The CBI once was the prime central agency but of late it has lost its spot to the Enforcement Directorate (ED). In the last few years, less has been said in the media about the investigations carried out by it than the internal rumblings within the agency. Hence, the task is cut out for Sood to make in an investigation agency again.