Ranjit Sinha, why now is a good time to quit

Purely at a personal level, one can't help feel a little sorry for Central Bureau of Investigation director Ranjit Sinha. Very few individuals have the misfortune of facing a professional humiliation just days before their retirement. But today's Supreme Court rap for Sinha just 12 days before his calls it a day was necessary to preserve the credibility of the CBI. "Prima facie it appears that there is credibility in the allegations levelled against Sinha (that he tried to protect some of the accused in the 2G spectrum scam), said Supreme Court, in response to the charges levelled by Prashant Bhushan's Centre for Public Interest Litigation. This is undoubtedly one of the most, most embarrassing moments in the CBI's history.

The apex court was kind enough to pull its punches, in order to prevent the CBI's name from being tarnished, but Sinha's ignominy is complete. In many ways, the director made matters more difficult for himself by accusing an senior officer of DIG rank of being a mole for Bhushan's NGO. Needless to say, such allegations only ended up harming the CBI's name further.

Sinha had been mired in controversy right from his appointment on December 3, 2012. The BJP had opposed his appointment with Arun Jaitley, then leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, even writing a letter to the prime minister on the matter. Of course, the BJP itself split on the matter with a few leaders like Shatrughan Sinha coming to Sinha's rescue.

Sinha got into more trouble when he took the CBI's investigative report on the coal scam to the then law minister Ashwani Kumar for vetting. In September this year, Sinha's role in the 2G investigation came under a cloud when a national daily revealed details from the visitor's diary outside Sinha's home, alleging that corporate honchos representing the accused in the 2G scam were frequent visitors to his home.

With the Supreme Court raising doubts over the integrity of the CBI director, it would be best for the agency if Sinha immediately tenders his resignation.