CBI working overtime to probe match-fixing -- Raghavan

CBI working overtime to probe match-fixing -- Raghavan
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, SEPT 15: In a rare candid interaction with the media today, CBI director R.K. Raghavan talked about the controversial cases being handled by the investigating agency. He was, however, not too forthcoming on some of them such as those relating to the match-fixing scandal.

Raghavan said the CBI had still not got any reference on the Defence deals which it was supposed to probe along with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). ``We have not got anything on the Defence deals either from the CVC or the Ministry of Defence (MoD),'' he said, adding that the CBI had not even been given the interim report on bungling in Defence deals put together by the CVC.

CBI special director P.C. Sharma said the agency did have a few discussions with the CVC. ``It was only to tell them that CBI should be given only those Defence deals to probe in which there was possibility of corruption by a Government servant,'' he said, adding that they did not hear from them after that.

About the match-fixing probe, the CBI director said the agency would soon submit its report. ``We are burning midnight oil preparing the report,'' he said. The maximum information which could be ferreted out of him was that the report could contain names of some ``Indian cricketers'' against whom some evidence was available. However, he said legal opinion was being sought to decide if a case could be made out or submission of the report was the end of it.

Raghavan went on to say that ``theoretically, the possibility of something like this (match-fixing) happening is shattering and shocking''. He was, however, quick to add that by saying this he was not confirming that it had happened.

The CBI director also talked about the long-pending recruitment rules which were finalised today. The new rules would remove stagnation, hasten promotions and enhance the morale of the staff considerably, he said. Raghavan said 85 new posts -- 75 of Additional Superintendents of Police and 10 of the rank of senior SPs -- had been created.

He said law tests had been introduced for officers to improve their prosecution skills, which had come in for criticism. CBI constables, who are graduates, can now take the departmental examinations for promotion to the rank of sub-inspectors. `` This way their chances of reaching senior ranks -- even to DIG level -- improve,'' said joint director Balachandran.