Former union home secretary K Padmanabhaiah said there should be no political interference in the working of investigative agencies like the CBI.
He was addressing a seminar organized by the Jana Chaitanya Vedika and APPA on the possibility of according autonomy to CBI and other investigative agencies at the Hyderabad Study Circle on Monday. Jana Chaitanya Vedika president V Lakshmana Reddy presided over the seminar.
Continuing his speech, Padmanabhaiah said reforms should be brought in all sectors and there should also be greater awareness among the people. He lamented that the Police Act brought by the British in 1861 was still in practice. He said while CBI filed a case against Lalu Prasad Yadav in 1993, charge sheet was filed in 2012. He has demanded that CBI directors should not be offered any position after their retirement. He also said that institutions that research on corruption should not be part of the government. He lamented that the officialdom had totally become spineless. Stating that fighting against corruption should be the main issue in elections, he said countries like Hong Kong had independent commissions to fight against corruption.
Former CBI director Vijaya Rama Rao also said that there should be no interference from government and political leaders in the day to day working of the police department.
He said it was wrong on the part of the CBI to have shown its report to the union law minister and PMO before it submitted the same to the Supreme Court. He said it was also wrong to make amendments as suggested by the law minister and the PMO. He said there was need for all the political parties and civil societies to take all the precautionary measures to prevent corruption.
In his speech Lakshmana Reddy said CBI should work under Lok Pal and ACB under Lok Ayukta and not the government. He said there was no meaning in the agencies working under the governments as ministers and leaders of ruling parties were indulging in corruption.
M Padmanabha Reddy, secretary of Suparipalana said the annual reports of the Vigilance Commission were not placed before the Assembly for the past 5 years. He also pointed out that the government was not giving permission for prosecuting more than 2000 officers facing corruption charges. He also called upon civil societies to fight for a strong Lok Ayukta on the lines of those set up in Karnataka, Goa, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh. Stating that Rs. 80,000 crores was spent in the name of Jala Yagnam, he said at leastRs. 40,000 crores of the money was wasted. He pointed out that the Lok Ayukta in Karnataka has powers to investigate even into the activities of the Chief Minister.
Senior Citizens’ Association president Dr. Rao Chelikani, APPA coordinator Ramesh, Pan Hindu Writers Forum convener K Damodar Reddy, R Indira of Aman Vedikaand P V Ramana, general secretary of the APST Employees Union also spoke in the seminar.
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