Others say that New Delhi does not want to aggravate Pakistan's national instability, which one expert described as being in "a precarious period."

Only a week before Musharraf declared a state of emergency, India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, had advised Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Pakistan was stable and there was "no chance that Musharraf would declare martial law," a reliable source who asked not to be identified told the Middle East Times.

Musharraf called out the troops Nov. 3, catching New Delhi totally by surprise. Singh "was livid," the source added.

The primary task of India's intelligence branch, R&AW, is to monitor political and military developments within its neighbors that could impact on India's national security. R&AW is particularly concerned with Pakistan, China, and Bangladesh. But its failure to predict what everyone else seemed to expect has prompted sharp criticism of the spy agency. Some people have even questioned its very usefulness.

"Musharraf's state of emergency was the worst kept secret, except for [R&AW head] Ashok Chaturvedi," said another observer who requested anonymity.

Part of the reason could be that Chaturvedi is the first head of India's spy agency whose expertise is not on Pakistan, but on Nepal.

Although much as been said and written about Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence, India's intelligence service has brought little attention to itself, which is the way spy agencies like to operate.

But now, much to the chagrin of those who like to operate in the shadows, this anonymity is changing as the agency comes under the spotlight. Much of this is due to Chaturvedi himself, whom one observer described as being "a controversial figure."

Since he took over at the start of this year the agency has suffered a string of scandals and embarrassing intelligence failures that have damaged the intelligence apparatus. The Indian press has dug up dirt on Chaturvedi that ranges from outrageous nepotism - a relative is a member of the committee that selects the agency boss - to acolytes allegedly being recruited by Chinese agents in Sri Lanka.

"Chaturvedi has used his current position to systematically downgrade and sideline all his perceived rivals within the organization, replacing them with people loyal to himself, creating a tremendous amount of bitterness and resentment," said another observer familiar with the Indian intelligence service, who asked not to be identified.

His main protégé, Sanjiv Tripathi, is being groomed to eventually take over. Tripathi was personally selected by Chaturvedi to assess and analyze the Pakistan dossier. Despite the crucial responsibility he was given, Tripathi is an administrator with no prior intelligence experience, according to the source.

"It was Tripathi who failed to ascertain that Musharraf was about to declare a state of emergency and that Pakistan was going to remain stable," the source said.

One observer criticized Chaturvedi as being "part of the intelligence clique in India that had developed close relations with the Soviet Union and the communist bloc during the Cold War."

Some fear that he intends to reestablish close relations with Russia's external intelligence agency the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, or Foreign Intelligence Service.

Others said that Chaturvedi has "developed a personality cult around himself" and gives the impression that he is untouchable, similar to the former director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover.

Chaturvedi has been at loggerheads with several members of the Congress-led coalition, including the National Security Adviser MK Narayanan.

At a recent conference in Bahrain, Narayanan warned about the intention of trans-national terrorism to hit economic targets in the Middle East and South Asia. But Chaturvedi and Tripathi take a completely opposing view and plan to downgrade their agency's focus on the terrorism threat.

Chaturvedi also appears to be heading into a confrontation with India's powerful Gandhi family over allegations that he sanctioned publication of a book written by Shankaran Nair, a former spy head, which claims that the Gandhi family, particularly former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was involved in bribery deals.

The whole affair is beginning to resemble one of Bollywood's daytime soap operas.