The Supreme Court's move to monitor the 2G probe will lend credence and momentum to the CBI investigation. The series of raids on premises of business associates and others considered close to A Raja and Kanimozhi indicates that investigations have taken a serious turn. This is welcome. Political rhetoric on corruption isn't sufficient. Cases need to be investigated properly and brought to closure, irrespective of the political cost incurred in the process.
That is easier said than done in the current era of coalition politics. The telecom controversy is as much about the pitfalls of coalition management as about faulty public policies. The UPA managers were forced to allot a crucial infrastructure ministry to the DMK after that party almost made it a condition to join the government. Again, the prime minister couldn't intervene to change policy or minister even after a storm broke out over licences. It's only after the CAG, an autonomous institution, produced a report that severely criticised the telecom ministry for causing huge losses to the exchequer that the prime minister asked the telecom minister to resign. Prompt action in the 2G case could have prevented the impasse in Parliament and the current paralysis of governance.
With the apex court coming into the picture, the UPA may no longer be in a position to meet DMK demands. And, that's likely to impact relations between the two parties. The DMK has so far insisted that it is not reading politics into the sudden momentum in the investigation. But with the scope of investigation extending to the family of the DMK patriarch, M Karunanidhi, ties could sour. However, political compulsions may force the two parties to stick together. The UPA government is dependent on the DMK at the Centre while the latter needs the Congress to hold office in Chennai.
Of course, the CBI and the SC could upset these calculations and force a realignment of political forces. All political parties are loath to grant neutrality and independence to the CBI. But the current impasse is a good example of how this can backfire for the ruling dispensation at the Centre. Any ally under fire for corruption now expects the government, as a matter of course, to influence CBI investigations in its favour and will hold the government responsible if it doesn't . This renders ruling coalitions fundamentally unstable and unable to govern. That's why, for practical more than idealistic reasons, autonomy should be conferred on investigative agencies such as the CBI.
