Plea in SC seeking Lokpal monitored probe into criminal-political nexus

The petition filed in the Supreme Court sought a direction to Lokpal to monitor investigation by central probe agencies including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, SFIO, RAW, CBDT and the NCB. The petition urged the apex court to empower the Lokpal to exercise statutory powers under the CrPC.

New Delhi: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a Lokpal-monitored investigation into the "criminal-political nexus" as flagged in the Vohra Committee report.

The petition, which is likely to come up for hearing in the coming days, has prayed for a direction to the Lokpal to monitor the investigation by the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, SFIO, RAW, CBDT and the NCB.

The petitioner has also urged the court to empower the Lokpal to exercise statutory powers under the CrPC and declare that it would be able to launch prosecutions against politicians-bureaucrats-criminals on the basis of evidence collected for offences under the IPC and other laws. The court may further direct to set up Special Courts to expeditiously try all such cases, it said.

Former Union Home Secretary N N Vohra headed the committee formed to study the problem of criminalisation of politics and the nexus between criminals, politicians and bureaucrats in India. The report was submitted in October 1993. The report contained observations by official agencies on the criminal network which, it said, was virtually running a parallel government.

However, no follow-up action on the findings of Vohra Committee Report had been initiated in last 27 years, the plea said.The petitioner has also sought a direction to the Home Secretary to withdraw the Padma Awards to all those politicians whose names have been mentioned in the Vohra report.

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The petition, filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, said that the report by the Verma committee observed that mafias, smugglers and money launderers have developed an extensive network of contacts with bureaucrats, government functionaries, politicians, legislators, strategically located persons in the non-governmental sector.

It said that and some of the criminal syndicates have international links with foreign intelligence agencies.The report recommended that an efficient Nodal Cell be set up with powers to take stringent action against crime syndicates while ensuring that it would be immune from being influenced, according to the plea.

The petitioner has also urged the court to set up a judicial commission to monitor the probe by investigating agencies like the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, SFIO, RAW, CBDT and the NCB. Democracy has not risen to the high expectations which heralded its conception and the root cause of the failure is the nexus among politicians-criminals-public servants.

Criminalization of politics is the root causes of the malaise which has incapacitated the democracy in particular, society in general, it said. The report also looked into criminal gangs that enjoyed the patronage of politicians from all parties as well as protection from senior government functionaries.

PTI