Night of shame continues……

I would soon realize that various forces were at work behind the scenes. First and foremost was the long-standing demand of the Delhi government to bring the police under its control. Even though Delhi was given statehood in 1991, some important departments such as the police and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which deals with land, are under the lieutenant governor. This duality has always been a bone of contention between the Delhi government and the Central government represented by the lieutenant governor, who is appointed by the Government of India.

Clearly, the forces seeking control over the police were in overdrive to capitalize on this incident and get the police under their charge. Ironically, at the time of this unfortunate incident, the state government and the Central government had the same ruling party. The demand for full statehood continues till date, as does the conflict of interest between the state government and the lieutenant governor. The December rape case became a useful handle to malign the prevailing system wherein the Delhi Police are under the lieutenant governor.

Another unseen force at work was a personal enemy of mine—a powerful bureaucrat of the Central government, someone I had booked for corruption while I served in the CBI. He had been under suspension ever since my team had arrested him in 1999. He had done his best to block my appointment as the commissioner of police. Luckily, he had not succeeded in his designs. This horrific case gave him the opportunity he had been waiting for.

Several pseudonymous complaints, ostensibly made by former civil servants and an eminent advocate, addressed to the president of India, with copies marked to all and sundry, started making the rounds. They all had  one  demand: sack the commissioner of police. When the addresses of the complainants were verified they were found to be in existence, but nobody by the senders’ names lived there.

 To be continued……