Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing the annual conference of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and state anti-corruption bureaux, said that the Prevention of Corruption Act would be amended to focus on corporate bribery, and that investigative agencies should upgrade their “skills and techniques” to deal with “newer methods of corruption”. He added that his government “stands firm in its commitment to do everything possible to ensure probity, transparency and accountability in governance”. These are fine words, and should be welcomed. However, it is far from clear why the prime minister was addressing them to the CBI and its cohorts rather than to his own Cabinet. For here the government appears to be speaking in two voices; as the prime minister talks of the need to examine newer forms of corruption, his ministers are busy defending DLF’s dealings with Robert Vadra well in advance of the full facts.
The political wisdom of the Congress closing ranks behind its president’s son-in-law is extremely questionable. The fact that even Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj was unable to maintain his office’s neutrality sufficiently to keep silent on the subject, saying instead that allegations against the Gandhi family always “fall like nine-pins”, is an indication of the degree to which the party’s members feel their loyalty requires a stout defence of Mr Vadra, whatever the political cost. But it is a political party’s right to be bad at politics, if it so wishes. However, those who hold ministerial portfolios relevant to possible investigations into the association between Mr Vadra and DLF should be a little more restrained in their comments on this issue. Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who supervises the income tax office among other relevant departments, declared that a probe was impossible without “specific allegations or quid pro quo”. This is certainly correct as a principle. But it is far from clear that specific allegations will not emerge. Indeed, Arvind Kejriwal believes he has already made specific allegations — that the Haryana government provided favourable treatment to DLF in return for Mr Vadra receiving benefits from that company. Meanwhile, Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily informed reporters firmly that “I can tell you there is no violation in the six companies. That’s a fact. We are not making any inquiry.” And Law Minister Salman Khurshid declared that any inquiry can only follow the provision of proof of illegality, which does somewhat reverse the usual process. Note that the merits of the actual accusations by Mr Kejriwal are not relevant here; what is relevant is that the Congress’ ministers are open to giving them a fair hearing.
There are certainly questions that should and could be raised about the relationship between Mr Vadra, DLF, and, for example, the Haryana government which so obligingly confirmed the land-use change that was one of the sources of Mr Vadra’s capital gains. It is possible that no connection exists; it is possible that a connection exists and is unprovable; but it is also possible that it exists and is provable. No minister should rule out the last possibility in public in advance of the facts. It certainly gives the impression that those connected to the powerful in the Congress will get away without their deals being properly investigated. And it undermines the claims that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made on behalf of his government.
