'Caged Parrot' Tag Returns To Haunt CBI 

One of the Supreme Court's most-repeated observations made a comeback on Friday when a bench, while granting bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said that the CBI must dispel the notion of being a "caged parrot".

The AAP chief had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in the Delhi excise policy case and then by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 26, a move that has repeatedly been called an insurance arrest by Mr Kejriwal's counsel, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who has said it was done to ensure that he stays behind bars.

While Justice Surya Kant upheld the Chief Minister’s arrest, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said the arrest was only to frustrate the bail granted to the Chief Minister. Both the judges, however, were unanimous in the decision to grant bail to Kejriwal considering the fact that the chargesheet has been filed in the case and that the trial is unlikely to be completed in the near future.

Justice Bhuyan, however, noted, "CBI did not feel the need to arrest him (Mr Kejriwal) even though he was interrogated in March 2023 and it was only after his ED arrest was stayed that CBI became active and sought custody of Mr Kejriwal, and felt no need of arrest for over 22 months. Such action by the CBI raises serious questions on the timing of the arrest and such an arrest by CBI was only to frustrate the bail granted in the ED case."

The judge then said that the CBI must show it is an uncaged parrot and that Caesar's wife should be above suspicion, implying that the agency must avoid even the implication of impropriety.

"CBI must be seen above board and every effort must be made so that arrest is not in a high-handed manner. In a country, perception matters and CBI must dispel the notion of being a caged parrot and must show it is an uncaged parrot. CBI should be like Caesar's wife, above suspicion," Justice Bhuyan said.

The "caged parrot" phrase first came to haunt the CBI in 2013, when it was pulled up by the Supreme Court for alleged interference in its investigation into the allocation of coal licences to private companies, which came to be known as the 'Coalgate' scam.

Coming down heavily on the premier investigating agency, a three-judge bench headed by Justice RM Lodha had said it was a "caged parrot speaking in its master's voice".

Seizing on the Supreme Court's observations, AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Friday, "What the Supreme Court has said about central investigating agencies is a big rebuke to the Centre. The court has said that the 'caged parrot' observation still holds true and that the central investigating agencies were engaged in a conspiracy to keep Mr Kejriwal in jail."