More work for CBI as police has lost credibility, says Ranjit Sinha

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation made an uncharacteristic plea before the Bombay High Court last month, desperately seeking to stay away from the case of the death of actress Jiah Khan. It ended up earning the court’s admonishment for "shying away" from probing the mysterious death of a citizen.

Such court orders and far too frequent moves of state governments to transfer cases to the CBI pile up work for the country’s premier investigating agency. The CBI has much more on its plate than it can be reasonably expected to handle, nearly half dozen officers that ET spoke to complained, pointing out that they were forced to work on multiple cases simultaneously as the agency faced an all-time high burden.

Nearly 40 CBI officials are devoted to the expanding coal scam investigation. Besides, the CBI is probing the Badaun girls’ case and the UP government is planning to refer the alleged rape cases in Mohanlalganj and Meerut as well to the agency.

CBI director Ranjit Sinha says the agency is overburdened because the state police forces have lost credibility. "I feel sorry that the credibility of the state police forces has been totally lost. Even ordinary crime cases are now being referred to the CBI. It is a sad commentary on the state police. I feel it is not the CBI which has become more efficient or important over time but it is the state police which have become inefficient," Sinha told ET. The agency is grappling with its workload even after it rejects "60 per cent of the cases" referred to it from the states, Sinha said.