"Jain's statement on Rao was not recorded by me"

On the accusation that Prime Minister Rao’s name was included at the last minute (as part of the larger BJP game-plan), he says that Jain’s statement was recorded on March 11, 1995, when he was in CBI custody from March 5 to 14. "That is hardly last minute," is his assertion. "The important thing here," points out Kanth, "is that the statement on Narasimha Rao was not even recorded by me. It was a superintendent of police who recorded the statement. Of course, I was the head of the team." But by May 1995, Kanth had been removed from the agency. Never before had a policeman investigated with such rigour charges of bribery against heavyweight politicians or managed to record Jain’s version on how he actually made payments to the Prime Minister. However, while normal CBI tenures continue up to seven years, Kanth was unceremoniously removed from the agency after just four years.

Was Kanth removed after he and his team recorded the charge against Rao? Says he: "As a professional policeman, I consider myself an agent of law who is supposed to find the truth and collect evidence for successful prosecution in a court of law." Hitting the headlines with the Delhi Police’s successful investigations in the capital’s transistor bomb case of the early ’80s and subsequently in cases related to the ’84 riots, Kanth’s tenure in the CBI was extremely chequered. He chargesheeted K. Bangarappa in the Classik Computers case and the former chief minister of Sikkim, Nar Bahadur Bhandari, in a case of corruption; was linked to the Rajiv Gandhi assassination probe; handled successful investigations into all cases relating to the chargesheet of former Maruti chairman V. Krishnamurthy. He also filed chargesheets in the bank securities scam. Serving two tenures in the agency—first as DIG of the Special Investigation Team, and later when he took over the charge of the hawala case as DIG, anti-corruption. "As DIG, anti-corruption, during 1993-94, investigations into the hawala case were conducted very thoroughly," he points out.

Kanth’s investigations have now become the basis of chargesheets filed against some of the country’s most prominent politicians, with possibly more to follow. Have the chargesheets been filed accurately? "All I can say is I could not have filed the chargesheets, as I was not in the agency by then. As regards the merits of the investigations or facts of the case, I would not like to offer any comments. Those should come from the CBI officials and spokesman," Kanth says.

The police officer, who now runs Prayas, an NGO providing juvenile care, does not think much of the charges linking him to the BJP and Yashwant Sinha (Kanth’s brother is married to Sinha’s daughter). "My career as a police officer has been absolutely transparent and I am sure I need not defend myself, my integrity, impartiality and professionalism. "