DR Karthikeyan: Policing must be above politics

KOCHI: At a time when the credibility of the CBI is being debated after the revelations in the Sampath murder case, former CBI director DR Karthikeyan said that usually if an arrest warrant is issued against an accused official he should be taken into custody and interrogated. However, he maintained that he was not aware of the developments associated with Sampath murder.The CBI action in issuing arrest warrants against ADGP Mohammed Yasin and DIG Vijay Sakhare from the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in the Sampath murder case and later withdrawing them have invited severe criticisms from various corners including the Kerala High Court.Asked about whether such an action on the part of the CBI could be justified, Karthikeyan said: “Personally I am not aware of the case. However, usually once a warrant is issued, he would be taken into custody. The warrant is issued as there is prima facie evidence against the accused. After the custodial interrogation if they found that there is not much evidence, they may not file a chargesheet. There may be some reason why they withdrew the warrants in this case. However, these kind of incidents are not uncommon,” Karthikeyan said.In an interview with Express in Kochi, Karthikeyan said there were incidents where the accused were excluded after judicial interrogation.Asked about the increasing number of scams and corruption charges against the officials, the former CBI director opined that policing should be held above politics.Elaborating on the suggestions that he had made before a Parliamentary panel under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Karthikeyan said: “Police, like national security, should be held above politics. When it comes to the actions of the CBI Director, there is nothing which forces him. He can be as independent as he wants to be.The CBI Director is not constitutionally independent as the CVC.As per the system, he will have a legal officer to give him advice. He is not completely bound to go by the advice, but he cannot complete ignore the advice also.”Ending political intervention is the only thing which can be done to keep the police force out of corruption, he opined.