Ansari's accountability idea finds favour

By Murali Krishnan, New Delhi, Jan 20 : Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari's call to bring the intelligence apparatus under legislative oversight has been welcomed by several former intelligence chiefs though many stressed the need to keep operational secrets out of public domain.

Delivering the Fourth R.N. Kao Memorial Lecture organised by the Research and Intelligence Wing (RAW) of the Cabinet Secretariat, Ansari on Tuesday made a case for greater oversight and accountability in the operations of the country's intelligence agencies and suggested a standing committee of parliament on intelligence be set up in accordance with the norms of a democratic society.

"That there should be accountability of intelligence agencies is essential but the oversight mechanism has to be well thought of. Agencies deal with many secret matters and they cannot fully operate in the public domain," former Intelligence Bureau (IB) director Ajit Kumar Doval told IANS.

"It is essential to evolve a well-thought out methodology where both objectives are met. What is the guarantee that a parliamentary committee is the right body? These platforms need to be thought of properly so that the system when it becomes operational works in harmony."

Former RAW chief Vikram Sood also said in principle he had no argument on the setting up of a parliamentary oversight committee.

"But it all depends on the detail of the committee. The devil is in the detail. However, a parliamentary forum is not a bad idea but the system to evaluate agencies needs to be detailed," Sood told IANS.

In his speech, Ansari cited international models to ensure oversight and accountability in advanced democratic societies, and said there was no reason why a democratic system like India should not have a standing committee on intelligence that could function on the pattern of other standing committees (in parliament).

"This is an old idea which has come forward. Personally, I have no objection to such a committee but it has to be formatted properly, the methodology of this oversight has to be articulated and more importantly one has to see if this mechanism is actually effective," former IB drector Arun Bhagat told IANS.

"Intelligence agencies are fully accountable so let's rest easy on that count. We are not like Pakistan's Inter Services intelligence," exclaimed A.S. Daulat, another former RAW chief.

"Broadly speaking it is a good idea and this (committee) will gradually come into being. But the logistics of this committee has to be made clear."

However one former intelligence official from the cabinet secretariat warned that operational details of intelligence agencies should be kept outside the purview of this committee if and when it is set up.

"The survey should only be on man-management, finance and recruitment in agencies. We have all kinds of MPs in parliament, who obviously have vested interests in seeking information. So the composition of this parliamentary committee is paramount."