Following his conviction for the contempt of court by the apex court, the former interim Director of the CBI, Nageswara Rao, ought to resign on moral grounds. In the past, SC found a number of people guilty of contempt — in fact, sending one to jail for one month — but most were let off with a rap on the knuckles.
But in this case, Rao was made to sit in a corner of the court for the entire duration of the day’s proceedings after the court rebuked him for blatant disobedience of its order not to proceed against the Joint Director A K Sharma. The latter was probing the Bihar shelter home case.
“Heavens would not have fallen if Sharma was relieved from the agency a day later” when a permanent Director assumed charge. Along with Rao, the CBI legal adviser, S Bhasuram, too was held guilty of contempt and both were fined Rs. one lakh each for the defiance of the court order.
Given the fact that Rao was an experienced officer of the Indian Police Service, he ought to have known better than to defy the highest court in the land. His unconditional apology was not enough for him to be let off with a mild warning. The court took a stern view of his act. Whether his conscience pricks so strongly to make him offer his resignation is not known, but the Home Ministry can take note of his conviction for the contempt of court and do the needful.
