With the arrival of the Karsan officials in Delhi, the urea scam case is now expected to forge ahead with all despatch to its logical conclusion. What sort of logic, though? Going by past experience, it will be the logic of political imperatives. It is becoming a tradition to use scam investigations - or the impending threat thereof - as a political weapon to keep opponents in line. Even the Bofors case, which has been dragging on for a decade, is still being used for political ends - to keep the Congress in check. Deve Gowda used it to great effect during his tenure.Now that Sitaram Kesri is betraying withdrawal symptoms, no doubt this awesome weapon will again be deployed by the United Front Government. Dare we hope that the urea case will be allowed to proceed with only the interests of justice at heart? After all, it promises to become high-calibre ammunition because the sons of Narasimha Rao and Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav are directly implicated. Neither is an active counter in the current power games, but getting them out of the reckoning for all time is bound to appear an attractive proposition for many other players. They can be kept in line simply by keeping the urea case on ice.But, setting political imperatives aside, it is essential that the basic issue of the case be addressed. The fact is that Rs 133 crore of the taxpayer's money has left our shores for ever, and the taxpayer has a right to know who allowed it to happen. The interrogation of the two Karsan executives should bring out a host of links with people in power. It is suspected that several politicians were paid off for either facilitating the deal or conveniently looking the other way. The list of illustrious accused will no longer be limited to the families of Rao and Yadav. Until the day that they are all prosecuted, this case will not have served its purpose. Hopefully, the imperatives of justice will prevail over equally compelling political imperatives.The urea case is the first commercial scam in which the accused have been successfully extradited. Former CBI chief Joginder Singh's attempts in the hawala case proved to be laughably fruitless. In the Bofors case, too, Quattrocchi has managed to thumb his nose at the CBI, ignoring summons and replying to allegations with Press releases. The success in the urea case is bound to increase the self-esteem of the CBI, but it owes largely to the cooperation of the Swiss authorities, who have been holding the Karsan executives in custody for a year.To some extent, no doubt, this owes in turn to the fact that over the years, Indian agencies have been able to establish a working understanding with their counterparts in Switzerland. It underscores the need for similar interaction and understanding with the authorities of other nations. More extradition treaties are certainly required, but it ought to be appreciated that the decision to extradite is often left to personal discretion. It is based as much on understanding and trust as the law. If the Indian agencies had a better rapport with the security agencies of other nations, they would not have been embarrassed by outright refusals like in the hawala case.
