Yanpvuo Kikon (Admin): Till date Nagaland remains the only State in India not to have a CBI branch! All the developmental funds that are siphoned off openly and the corrupt practices which we witness right under our noses will never end until we the people fight for it! One such practical approach is for every right thinking Naga citizen including respected bodies such as NSF, ENPO, NMA, Naga Council etc to demand for a CBI BRANCH in our State! We Nagas need to be aware of the Criminal Justice System in India especially the dreaded 'CBI' which has helped in arresting many corrupt modern day kings who are often perceived to be invincible! With the stringent and judicious Supreme Court behind these corruption cases no one gets away! Look at our eastern States which are deprived of even the basic development, our pothole filled roads with luxury cars plying on them, Govt. schools which look worse than animal sheds while many politicians and undergrounds live in palatial buildings. We don't need a complex report to prove that our system is corrupt; the obvious proof is all around for the world to see! We all complain of corruption but have we ever done anything about it? Rather than just pointing out the problems, we should also point out the solutions to these problems. If we don’t do that, we will forever remain a bunch of complain boxes. Until some of these corrupt officials are put behind bars to remind them that they serve the public, they will never ever learn! Many skeptics say that CBI officials are also corrupted but it is an obvious fact that corruption varies drastically from person to person and should never be generalized. For example, If a particular officer has been bribed it doesn’t mean we can conclude that all officers can be bribed. What have we got to loose if a CBI branch is set up in Nagaland? Before trying out anything we cannot give our judgment on the usefulness of the same. Would you rather prefer to have a Government with no machinery to tackle corrupt practices? If CBI is corrupted I believe we would not have witnessed a recently concluded historic case where charge sheet has been filed - More than 7 IPS officers, 20 persons including Shri .Amit Shah (Then Home Minister of Gujurat State), Shri. P.C. Pande (IPS, then DGP Gujurat), Shri. O.P. Mathur(IPS DGP Gujurat), Smt. Geetha Johri(IPS Addl.DGP), along with 4 more IPS officers including, D.G.Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian, Dinesh M.N. and Vipul Agarwal. This case was investigated by Shri Sandeep Tamgadge IPS CBI, who had also served in Nagaland for a long time. This proves that no matter how high or powerful a Bureaucrat or Politician is assumed to be, under the eyes of Law they are mere crooks if they are proved to be one! Almost 50 years have passed since we attained Statehood and we are lacking way behind in terms of development compared to other States. The new Naga generation yearns and dreams of a developed Nagaland free of corruption, tribalism and violence.
Our superficial skyscraper will come down collapsing soon like the ‘Tower of Babel’ unless we have a strong foundation built – Roads, Electricity, Healthcare and Education. And before it is too late, Nagas need to regain control of our economy which will soon be in the hands of illegal immigrants and we should start encouraging business activities amongst ourselves. And to initiate these five strong pillars of foundation which is needed to build a secure future for the Nagas, a stringent watchdog needs to be in place which will ensure a CORRUPTION FREE system; a policy making body which works in the interest of the common man whom they represent. And to start with, it is high time for the Government to set up a CBI branch in Nagaland – The only State in India yet to have one.
Sandeep Tamgadge (IPS): An issue well raised by Yan Kikon. It's almost 50 years for our State formation. When other states like Maharashtra can have 3 Anti Corruption and 4 other CBI branches, why can't we have a separate and independent CBI branch for our state? Why the CBI branches of Guhawati or Imphal should cover our State?
With so many Central Government Schemes in the state and huge misappropriation and siphoning of the funds, we need an office which can look into all these Corruption issues.
But before we jump to any conclusion, let's understand in brief, how a CBI branch/ office is opened in any state.
1. As per the scheme of the things in our Constitution, Policing per se falls under "STATE" power list and thus State Governments are all powerful to decide if besides the State Police, any other Agency can register a case(offence) and Investigate it as per the provisions of Criminal Procedure Code.
2. CBI is a specialised Investigating Agency of the Government of India as per a special Act known as Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, which would primarily deal with the Anti Corruption Issues.
3. Now, what does that mean is that, CBI being a Central Govt. Police Agency can function in any State only with the Concurrence and Pleasure of the local State Governments. So if the local Govt. doesn't want CBI to function and they do not give there permission to investigate or remove the same, in effect, CBI need to pack up and leave.
4. We really need to ponder, in the background as explained above, why CBI doesn't have a branch/ office in Nagaland.
5. As commented above by a friend,that earlier CBI guys were given the excuse of Militancy or for whatever reason, I fail to understand, if a much worse affected Manipur can continue to have a CBI office, why can't we?
6. Finally, would want to thank Yan Kikon for raising this important issue in the forum. It's only 10 months for me in CBI but have learnt a lot and been handling some of the most sensitive cases. Please believe me, nothing like giving chance and opportunity for CBI to function. As illustrated above, just recently Chargesheeted the Ex Home Minister of Gujrat, Sh Amit Shah and 7 Senior IPS officers including two DGP rank officers for Conspiracy to murder and destruction of Evidence. I can assure you guys, for CBI, no one is above the Law. Let's think about this! It's high time!
