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Central Bureau of Investigation Director Prem Chandra Sharma told rediff.com on Thursday that there was no question of a vendetta driving the agency's raids on the office of the Web site Tehelka.com, which had used a sting operation to expose corruption in defence deals.
The CBI is now investigating a case against Kumar Badal, a reporter of the Web site, who is alleged to have filmed the skinning of three leopards killed by poachers in a forest near Sarhangadh in Uttar Pradesh. The Uttar Pradesh police have claimed that the criminal offence was committed at the Web site's behest.
Asked if the CBI had raided Tehelka's office to intimidate its editor, Tarun Tejpal, who was to appear the same day before the Justice K Venkataswami Commission, which is investigating the Web site's charges of corruption in defence deals, Sharma said, "That is absolutely not true. We were following a case, which was handed over to us by the UP police."
Sharma said it would be "furthest from the truth" to say that his officers raided Tehelka's office to stop anyone from appearing before the commission. "As it is, we did not know the dates [of the commission's hearings]," he said. On a more combative note, he added, "I don't owe an explanation to anyone for investigating my case professionally."
Sharma said he wanted journalists to look at the allegations. "Poaching is a serious crime [punishable] with seven years imprisonment. There are allegations that the accused supplied a camera, mobile phone, and money to kill animals just to have a sensational story.
"These allegations are not ours. There are witnesses to support them. We had a purpose behind the raids. It's unfair if somebody holds a view that we wanted to intimidate."
Asked why, in that case, the agency had seized emails exchanged between Shanker Sharma, an investor in Tehelka, and Tejpal, Sharma said, "If it is not relevant to the investigation we will return it. But let me add that the raids have served the purpose of furthering the investigation of the case."
According to Sharma the CBI was looking for the legal link between the reporter Badal and Tehelka. "To support the investigation of the poaching case we raided Badal's residence and his workplace, which happens to be Tehelka's office. We wanted to collect his employment papers and other documents that could be linked to poaching. The raid was as per the guidelines laid down, which are followed in all cases. We were not there to rummage through their office or disturb them."
Asked why the case against Tehelka was dealt with in unusual haste, he replied, "Since the last one year there are many cases on which we have acted faster than this case. Two years ago we had more than 200 cases pending. Since then, we have reduced the backlog and only 40-50 cases are pending on our desk. Why don't you evaluate the evidences of this case independently? This case has inter-state ramifications. I will not do anything which will show the CBI in a poor light."
Questioned repeatedly about the motive for the raid, Sharma finally said, "As you believe a professional [Tejpal], the media should also believe a professional agency! We did not raid with a sentiment of vendetta."
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