B.R. Lall

Power Politics pays solemn tribute to B. R. Lall, former DGP of Haryana and Joint Director of CBI who later became a leading social activist and crusader against political corruption. He passed away on November 25 at his residence in Gurgaon, Haryana. He was 67. His cremation took place in Gurgaon the same evening with his daughter lighting the pyre.

   The retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer belonging to the Haryana cadre shot into fame after handling the famous Jain Hawala case and having authored the book , “Who Owns the CBI: The Naked Truth” in 2006 on the functioning and investigations done by the central probe agency. He was also a special contributor Power Politics.

   Lall served as a joint director in the CBI during 1994-96 and handled many highprofile cases. His firm moral stance, nononsense approach and refusal to toe political lines favaourable to the government of the day in case investigations earned him kudos from the public and the wrath of the powers that be. He continued his fight against corruption and misdeeds even after demitting office.

   Lall was born in May 1944 in Dajal district of Dera Ghazikhan which is now in Pakistan. Before joining the police service, Lall was a Probationary Officer in the State Bank of India (SBI). He had a Masters in Economics from the Delhi University. He rose through the ranks in the state police hierarchy and had stints in central deputations.

   Lall’s views on moral uprightness and corruption in public life brought him closer to Anna Hazare, the anticorruption crusader. He appreciated Hazare's presence in the corruption fight as it brought in mass mobilization. However, he was cautious that the crucial issues concerning the corruption fight could get submerged in the mass hysteria that now surrounds the anti-corruption movement in the country.

   Since 1996, Lall was campaigning to free CBI from the executive control and political pressure. He felt that the CBI, once considered an unbiased probing agency, has lost its sheen because of political interference. Just before his death, Lall was actively associated with the corruption watchdog, “Transparency International”, that organized the first ever conference on the issue, 'Freedom from Corruption'.

   Lall strongly believed corruption is a crime that no politico-moral authority can condone. He was of the firm view that a right course should be chartered to ensure transparency in governance and felt that neutral umpires must come forward to contain corruption. Independent enforcement of laws should be in place to enforce checks and reprimands.

   The ex-CBI joint director wrote: “In this country we have specialized agencies (to fight corruption and misdeeds) in all the States and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at the Centre. We must understand its dynamics before crucial questions are answered. Corruption is a game and prerogative of people in power. Basically corruption is nothing but conversion of power (both political and administrative) into money…

   “The anti-corruption organisation to be effective should be capable of taking action against persons in power but the bureaucratic functioning including these agencies suited the times of British rule where it was a master-servant relationship…

   “Even an upright official, when faced with orders from his political masters, turn helpless in effort to uphold rules and values…. They are used to functioning under the political masters’ directions only."

   The ex-CBI officer who supervised the Bofors gun deal bribery case had claimed that alleged Hawala dealer S.K. Jain confessed to the probe agency that he and Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi received kickbacks from projects, including the howitzer gun deal. He claimed that he faced ‘pressure' from influential persons, including politicians and officials of the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao's office, and therefore was shifted out of the probe. “I faced pressure when the agency officials were probing the case as we gathered [a lot of] evidence against influential people for their involvement in the Bofors case. As a result I was shifted out of the investigations,” he wrote.

   Lall who was handling the Bhopal gas tragedy case from April 1994 to July 1995, had alleged that he was asked not to press for the extradition of Warren Anderson, chief of the American Union Carbide Corporation that owned and operated the Bhopal pesticides plant at the time of the gas leak tragedy that killed several thousands. "All the police directors under whom I served were honest and upright officers, but when they were told something by the Prime Minister, they would suddenly become helpless." According to him, political interference happens at the level of the director and the pressure is exerted from the level of the PMO downward. The "junior" officers in turn are told to prepare a weak case.

   Joginder Singh, a Director of CBI and a colleague, endorsed the stand taken by Lall. He said political interference was something that the CBI was always exposed to. Lall always believed that the job of the investigating agency is to find and collect facts in the most truthful manner without any consideration, fear, favour or pressure other than the law. Therefore, “the CBI or any other authority that may be created needs to be placed under a board of control”, he had opined.

   His campaign and writings, including the ones in Power Politics, had helped to sensitize the issue before the entire country. Developments now point to the realization of his cherished dreams in the near future. If it comes about, it would be the best tribute to the departed soul.