CBI probe: Many hurdles ahead

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end - Gilda Radner

This quote may be apt for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as it begins the intricate entry into probing the allegations of match fixing, betting and other irregularities involving players, officials and administrators. In this particular investigation, which is new to them, they don't have a starting point and no definite time frame.

The Government decided on April 27 after the meeting with the players, officials and administrators of the game to involve the CBI in the process of finding out the truth and clearing the mess. Though the Government has given a broad base for the scope of investigation to be covered, they have not specified on the period. Replying to a specific question regarding the time frame for the probe, Sports Minister SS Dhindsa said no such time limit could be set as the probe would be extensive.

The Government should take the initiative and come out with some concrete steps in guiding the central investigating body. The Sports Minister has said in the Rajya Sabha that all charges including corruption charges will be looked into by the agency. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, the Union Home Minister LK Advani has assured that the government would provide full protection to all those who provide information to the agency. But at what point of the investigation is the question. They have to spell out the scope of the investigation so as to assist the agency to help in solving this case to its logical conclusion. Therefore the time frame in question is not when the probe would end but the when, where and how it would begin.

In such a situation, the CBI is on to a probe and is caught in no man's land with no clear instructions from the government on the cutoff date from where they have opened the case. The CBI is clearly clueless and for that matter they may not have answers to some of the questions. Do they have a reference point or enough material? Will the Hansie Cronje tapes be taken as evidence? As far as the Indian connection is concerned, does the CBI have enough material on whom to question in the scam? Or can they answer the question of what exactly is match fixing? Will they go into all the wild allegations and counter charges that have been levelled over a period of time? Should the scope of the probe cover only the Indian angle or Indians' involved in betting abroad too?

It may be apt to end with this quote by Gertrude Stein: "What is the answer?...[Silence]...In that case, what is the question?". One hopes with an issue as perplexing as this, cricket fans may be asking the first part of these words and the CBI officials the second part.