Published: 9th Apr, 2022
Context
The Chief Justice of India recently spoke in faovur of the country having one umbrella investigating body.
Background
What did the Chief Justice of India say?
- While speaking at a memorial lecture the Chief Justice of India said that the working methodology of CBI has raised doubts regarding its credibility.
- The CJI expressed the need to break the nexus between investigating agencies and the political executives.
- He also pitched the idea of creating a single statutory body which will serve as an umbrella organization for all central investigating organisations like CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Serious Fraud Investigation Office etc.
|
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
Enforcement Directorate (ED)
Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO)
|
Why is the CBI in favour of creating an umbrella investigating agency?
- According to the CBI setting up an umbrella investigating agency will end multiplicity of proceedings.
- This, as per the CJI, will also save the probe agencies from being blamed as tools of political harassment.
What are the merits in the proposition of a single investigating agency made by CJI?
- CJI is correct in saying that an umbrella investigating agency will terminate the problem of multiple agencies probing the same act from different perspectives of law.
| An example to the situation is the Harshad Mehta case, were CBI invested the matter from the point of view of stock market manipulation and the ED probed it from the viewpoint of money laundering. |
- This causes jurisdictional havoc and results in turf war between the agencies.
- The above situation also may lead to and has led to in the past to of prolonging trial.
- Unification of agencies will make investigation by single entity possible with all aspects of the case taken into consideration by it.
Is creation of single probe agency advisable?
- Setting up a single agency may lead to concentration of all investigating powers in the hands of a single agency and individuals administering that agency.
- Independence of such a unified probe agency from the influence of political executives cannot be guaranteed just because it is a statutory body.
| It has to be remembered that even CBI is a statutory body but has been termed as “Parrot of Executive” by the Supreme Court itself. |
- In fact collaboration between a unified agency and the executive government may harm the democratic fabric of this country even more.
- Existence of multiple investigating organizations is also due to the fact that they specialize in probing specific types of crime.
| Merger of all the agencies may lead to dilution of such specialization and hence the same is not advisable. |
What has to be done?
- Severing the connections between central investigating agencies and political executives can only happen over the period of time.
- For the above to happen it is important for the personnel of such agencies to see career benefits of serving the country with fear or favour.
- Better coordination between different agencies can be established through regular seminars and interaction making it easy for them to investigate the same act from their respective jurisdictional perspective in a much smoother way.
More Articles
Courses
Study
Notes
Home
Resources
More
