FEROZEPUR, July 7: Former CBI Director Joginder Singh is half-way through his book Inside the CBI, which could prove to be a bombshell for the corrupt and those responsible for criminalisation of politics in the country.Talking to The Indian Express in an exclusive interview at his ancestral house at Jalalabad near here, on Saturday evening, Singh revealed that the 600-page book would be published after his retirement, due later this year.

The book, he said, would acquaint and awaken the readers against corruption and criminalisation of politics.However, Singh has yet to finalise his publisher. While an American publisher has offered him $ 1 million, a British publisher had made an offer of 1 lakh pounds, he said.He expressed his desire to get the book translated into Indian languages for wider dissemination and to utilise the sale proceeds for social welfare.

Relaxed and at ease with himself, Singh refused to be drawn into the controversy surrounding his unceremonious removal from the CBI barely 15 weeks before his retirement. ``Transfer is a part of government service and I am a disciplined government servant,'' he replied.The IPS officer was not bitter when asked about Prime Minister I K Gujral. Rather, he described him as a capable and successful PM and wished him success, more so as both of them were Punjabis. Asked to comment on the charge made by politicians that he was a publicity-seeker, Singh termed it as baseless. He disclosed that during his 11-month tenure as head of the CBI he had addressed barely four press conferences which were related to major scams.

He had made it a practice that no press conference would be called if a scam involved less than Rs 2 crore. Asked why the CBI was soft towards former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao in the St.Kitts case, he refuted the charge saying that the bureau had stoutly opposed Rao's bail.When asked if the CBI had done poor homework in the Jain `hawala' case, Singh said that all the cases had been framed before he took over as head of the CBI.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.