Central Bureau of Investigation केंद्रीय अन्वेषण ब्यूरो Kendriya Anveshan Byuro |
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Common name | Central Bureau of Investigation | ||||||
Abbreviation | CBI | ||||||
Seal of the Central Bureau of Investigation | |||||||
Motto | Industry, Impartiality, Integrity | ||||||
Agency overview | |||||||
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Formed | 1 April 1963 | ||||||
Preceding agency | Special Police Establishment (SPE) (1941) | ||||||
Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency | ||||||
Jurisdictional structure | |||||||
Federal agency | India | ||||||
Governing body | Government of India | ||||||
General nature |
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Operational structure | |||||||
Headquarters | New Delhi, India | ||||||
Agency executive | A.P. Singh. IPS., Director | ||||||
Parent agency | Department of Personnel and Training | ||||||
Child agency | Interpol National Central Bureau India branch | ||||||
Regions | |||||||
Facilities | |||||||
Branchs | 52 | ||||||
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Website | |||||||
http://www.cbi.gov.in/index.php | |||||||
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941. Its motto is "Industry, Impartiality, Integrity".
The CBI is controlled by the Department of Personnel and Training in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension of the Union Government usually headed by a Union Minister who reports directly to the Prime Minister. While analogous in structure to the FBI, the CBI's powers and function are severely limited to specific crimes based on Acts (mainly the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946). The CBI is the official Interpol unit for India.
As of November 30, 2010 the director of CBI is former Indian Police Service officer Amar Pratap Singh. He replaced Ashwani Kumar.[1] The CBI come under criticism recently for its mishandling of several scams.
The Central Bureau of Investigation traces its origin to the Special Police Establishment (SPE) (Hindi: विशेष पुलिस संस्थापन Vishesh Police Sansthapan), which was set up in 1941 by the Government of India. The functions of the SPE were to investigate cases of bribery and corruption in transactions with the War & Supply Department of India during World War II. The superintendent of the SPE was vested with the War Department. Even after the end of the War, the need for a Central Government agency to investigate cases of bribery and corruption by Central Government employees was felt. The Delhi Special Police Establishment Act was therefore brought into force in 1946. This Act transferred the superintendence of the SPE to the Home Department and its functions were enlarged to cover all departments of the Govt. of India. The jurisdiction of the SPE extended to all the Union Territories and could be extended also to the States with the consent of the State Government concerned.
The founder director of the CBI was D.P. Kohli who held office from 1 April 1963 to 31 May 1968. Before this, he was Inspector General of Police of the Special Police Establishment from 1955 to 1963. Before that he held responsible positions in police in Madhya Bharat, Uttar Pradesh and Govt. of India. He was Police Chief in Madhya Bharat before joining the SPE. Kohli was awarded 'Padma Bhushan' in 1967 for his distinguished services.
Kohi was a visionary who saw in the Special Police Establishment the potential of growing into the national investigative agency. He nurtured the organisation during his long stint as Inspector General and as Director and laid the solid foundation on which the organisation grew over the decades to become what it is today.
As the CBI, over the years, established a reputation of being India's premier investigative agency with adequate resources to deal with complicated cases, demands were made on it to take up investigation of more cases of conventional crime such as murder, kidnapping, terrorism, etc. Apart from this, the Supreme court and even the various High Courts of the country also started entrusting such cases for investigation to the CBI on petitions filed by aggrieved parties. Taking into account the fact that several cases falling under this category were being taken up for investigation by the CBI, it was found expedient to entrust such cases to the Branches having local jurisdiction.
It was therefore decided in 1987 to constitute two investigation divisions in the CBI, namely, Anti-Corruption Division and Special Crimes Division, the latter dealing with cases of conventional crime, besides economic offences. The CBI is a central subject under the Constitution of India, meaning that it reports to the Indian Government and not to the individual states.
The CBI is the premier investigating police agency in India. It is an elite force playing a major role in preservation of values in public life and in ensuring the health of the national economy. It is also the nodal police agency in India which coordinates investigation on behalf of Interpol Member countries. The services of its investigating officers are sought for all major investigations in the country.
The CBI is headed by a Director, an IPS Officer of the rank of Director General of Police or Commissioner of Police (State). Director is selected based on the procedure laid down by CVC Act 2003 and has a tenure of 2 years. The other important ranks in the CBI can be also handled by IRS officers are Special Director, Additional Director, Joint Director, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Senior Superintendent of Police, Superintendent of Police, Additional Superintendent of Police, Deputy Superintendent of Police.The rest are recruited directly by the CBI, Inspector, Sub-Inspector, Assistant Sub-Inspector, Head Constable, Senior Constable and Constable.
According to annual reports Staff of CBI is usually divided between Ministerial staff, Ex-cadre posts which are usually of technical nature, Executive Staff and EDP Staff. Hindi Bhasha staff belongs to the Department of official languages.
Ministerial Staff includes LDC, UDC, Crime Assistants etc. Executive Staff includes Constables, ASI, Sub-Inspectors, Inspectors etc. EDP Staff includes Data Entry Operators, Data Processing Assistants, Assistant Programmers, Programmers and SSA.
The legal powers of investigation of CBI are derived from the DSPE Act 1946. This Act confers concurrent and coextensive powers, duties, privileges and liabilities on the members of Delhi Special Police Establishment (CBI) with Police Officers of the Union Territories. The Central Government may extend to any area, besides Union Territories, the powers and jurisdiction of members of the CBI for investigation subject to the consent of the Government of the concerned State. While exercising such powers, members of the CBI of or above the rank of Sub Inspector shall be deemed to be officers incharge of Police Stations of respective jurisdictions. The CBI can investigate only such of the offences as are notified by the Central Government under the DSPE Act.
Law and Order is a State subject and the basic jurisdiction to investigate crime lies with State Police. Besides , due to limited resources, CBI would not be able to investigate crimes of all kind. CBI may investigate:
Name [2] | Period | Notes |
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D.P. Kohli | 1963–68 | |
F. V. Arul | 1968–71 | |
D Sen | 1971-77 | |
S N Mathur | 1977 | Acting |
C V Narsimhan | 1977 | Acting |
John Lobo | 1977–79 | |
R D Singh | 1979-80 | |
J S Bajwa | 1980–85 | |
M G Katre | 1985-89 | |
A P Mukherjee | 1989–90 | |
R Sekhar | 1990 | Acting |
Vijay Karan | 1990–92 | |
S K Datta | 1992–93 | |
K V R Rao | 1993–96 | |
J Singh | 1996–97 | |
R C Sharma | 1997–98 | |
D. R. Karthikeyan | 1998 | Acting |
T N Mishra | 1998–99 | |
Dr. R K Raghavan | 04 Jan, 1999 – 30 Apr, 2001 | |
P C Sharma | 30 Apr, 2001 – 6 Dec, 2003 | |
U S Misra | 06 Dec, 2003 – 06 Dec, 2005 | |
Vijay Shanker Tiwari | 12 Dec, 2005 – 31 Jul, 2008 | |
W Ashwini Kumar | 02 Aug, 2008 – 30 Nov, 2010 | |
Amar Pratap Singh | 30 Nov, 2010 – Present |
Because of its intensely political overtones, it has been exposed by its former bigwigs like Joginder Singh and BR Lall who were Director and Joint Director respectively, to be engaging in nepotism , mal-prosecution and outright corruption. In his book, Who Owns CBI, BR Lall, an honest and upright officer details the modus operandi of manipulating and derailing investigation[3] This organisation has become synonymous with corruption as information obtained under the RTI Act has revealed. Even the Top Bosses are known for stooping to illegal fund diversions.[4] RTI activist Krishnanand Tripathi has alleged harassment from CBI in order to save itself from exposure through RTI.[5] CBI has now been exempted from RTI act.[6]
Normally, cases assigned to the CBI are sensitive and of national importance. It is a usual practice for the respective state police departments, to initially register any case coming under its jurisdiction, and if necessary, through mediation by the central government, the cases may be transferred to the CBI. The CBI handles many high profile cases, and is never far from controversy.
In January 2006, it was found that CBI had quietly unfrozen bank accounts of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, one of the prime accused in the Bofors scandal of 1986 which had tainted the Rajiv Gandhi government.[7] The CBI was responsible for the inquiry into the Bofors Case. Associates of then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi were linked to alleged pay-offs made in the mid-1980s by the Swedish arms firm AB Bofors, with $40 million in kickbacks moved from Britain and Panama to secret Swiss banks. The 410 howitzer field guns purchased in the $1,300 million arms sale were reported to be inferior to those offered by a French competitor.
The CBI, which unfroze Rs 21 crore in a London bank in accounts held by Bofors scam accused Quattrocchi and his wife Maria in 2006, has facilitated his travel across the globe by asking Interpol to take him off the “wanted” list on 29 Apr 2009. Following a communication from the CBI, Interpol withdrew the Red Corner Notice against Quattrocchi [8] . The development, that came barely three weeks before the end of the Manmohan Singh government’s tenure, brought the issue of the Bofors scandal back to centre stage. It is often suspected that ruling governments interfere with the work of the CBI, and the handling of the Bofors investigation by CBI under Congress governments has created a new synonym for CBI. After letting off the Bofors accused, Oppositions have never tired to call it the 'Congress Bureau of Investigation'.[9] [10]
In 1994 two scientists with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and two Indian businessmen were arrested for allegedly conspiring to sell space secrets to two Maldivian women, who were originally described by newspapers as agents of Pakistani intelligence, for money and sex. The CBI investigation did not reveal the existence of a spy ring, and by early 1995 it was clear that the case was more a product of inexperience and over exuberation on the part of the police and Intelligence Bureau.It was a well planned scheme to remove the then DGP Ramon S by concocted links to Maldivian lady. The scheme was plotted by some officers of Kerala police, the media and Muslim League as DGP was made of sterner stuff [11].
In 1991 an arrest linked to militants in Kashmir led to a raid on hawala brokers, revealing evidence of large-scale payments to national politicians. The prosecution that followed was partly prompted by a public interest petition (see Vineet Narain), and yet the court cases of the Hawala scandal eventually all collapsed without convictions. The CBI's role was again criticised. In concluding the Vineet Narain case, the Supreme Court of India directed that the Central Vigilance Commission should be given a supervisory role over the CBI.[12]
The CBI has been under a cloud owing to its handling of the Priyadarshini Mattoo case, in which Santosh Kumar Singh, the alleged murderer of a 22-year old law student was acquitted for what the case judge called "deliberate inaction" by the investigating team. The accused was the son of a high ranking officer in the Indian Police Service, due to which the case had been shifted from the regular police force to the CBI. However, the 1999 judgment commented on how "the influence of the father of the accused has been there".
Embarrassed by the judgment, the-then CBI Director, R K Raghavan, requested two Special Directors, P C Sharma and Gopal Achari, to study the judgement. Subsequently the CBI appealed the verdict in Delhi High court in 2000, after which the High Court issued a bailable warrant against the accused. The case was again prominent in 2006 after much media coverage and public bashing (this was mainly due to a similar acquittal in another high profile case, though not handled by the CBI). The CBI filed an application for early hearing in July 2006. The High Court subsequently found Santosh Kumar Singh guilty of rape and murder and awarded a death sentence for the same in October 2006.
The CBI was given the responsibility of investigating the murders of dozens of children in the Nithari village near Noida, UP. This was after the local police was found to be incompetent and lethargic in their investigations. The serial killings were in the Indian and international media for weeks since decomposing bodies were found outside the house of the accused Moninder Singh Pandher.
In August 2007, the CBI asked its Pakistani counterpart, the Federal Investigation Agency, for its comments on recent media reports about the detention of Dawood Ibrahim by authorities in Karachi.
Sister Abhaya murder case concerns a nun, who was found dead in a water well in Saint Pius X convent hostel in Kottayam, Kerala on 27 March 1992. Altogether there were five CBI inquiries into the murder case so far without any tangible results. The powerful Catholic Lobby had exerted their undue influence to subdue the case as a Priest and a nun were involved. Abhaya had caught them in a compromising position.[13]
CBI has been accused of acting for the ruling party Congress (UPA) to trap its opposition party mainly BJP. CBI, which is dealing with the Sohrabuddin case in Gujrat, questioned Geeta Johri an IPS officer, who claims the CBI is pressuring her to falsely implicate former Gujarat Minister Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, Rajkot Police Commissioner Geeta Johri has alleged in the Supreme Court.[14]
Sant Singh Chatwal was an accused in the CBI’s records for 14 years. CBI had filed two chargesheets naming him as accused; sent Letters Rogatory abroad; even sent a probe team to the US and put Chatwal and his wife behind bars from February 2 to February 5, 1997. On May 30, 2007 and August 10, 2008, former CBI Director Vijay Shankar and the agency’s present Director Ashwani Kumar respectively signed orders saying there was no need to challenge the discharge of Sant Singh Chatwal and his co-accused. This was done in spite of advice of a string of investigators — including a Special Director and Joint Director — and it was decided not to appeal his discharge. This, in effect, closed the principal case of bank fraud in which Chatwal had been embroiled for over a decade. Along with four others, Chatwal was charged with being part of a “criminal conspiracy” to defraud the Bank of India’s New York branch to the tune of US $8,992,815 (Rs 28.32 crore). In all, four chargesheets were filed by the CBI, with Chatwal named as accused in two. The trials in the other two cases are still in progress. RTI applicant Krishnanand Tripathi was denied access to public information concerning the closed cases. CIC later ordered the CBI to disclose the information. But CBI has recently been exempted from RTI act and it is unclear if this information will be disclosed. Sant Singh Chatwal has been awarded with Padma Bhushan despite these cases.[15][16][17]
The Malankara Varghese murder case concerns the death of T.M.Varghese also known as Malankara Varghese,a member of Malankara Orthodox Church's managing committee and a timber merchant in 5 December 2002.On 9 May 2010 charged Father Varghese Thekkekara,a priest and manager of the Angamali diocese in the rival Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (a part of the Syriac Orthodox Church) with conspiracy in the murder of Malankara Varghese and named him as the prime accused.Till date,the prime accused has not been arrested, CBI is highly being criticized for this by Kerala High Court and Media.[18]
The public perceived that the CBI was very ineffective in trying the Bhopal gas tragedy case. The former CBI joint director B. R. Lall has now confessed that he was asked to remain soft on extraditing the Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson,[19] and dropped charges, including culpable homicide, against those accused in this case, who received two year sentences.[20]
CBI has a high conviction rate.
Year | Conviction Rate |
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2008 | 66.2% [21] |
2007 | 67.7% [22] |
CBI Academy at Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, started functioning in 1996. The Academy is situated towards east of Delhi, in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh[23] at a distance of around 40 km from New Delhi Railway Station and about 65 km from Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi. It is spread over of 26.5 acres (107,000 m²) of lush green fields and plantations with a covered area consisting of the Administrative, Academic, Hostel and Residential Blocks. Prior to that a small Training Centre was functional at Lok Nayak Bhawan, New Delhi only for conducting short term in-service courses. CBI then, was dependent on State Police Training Institutions and NPA, Hyderabad for training basic courses of Dy.SsP, SIs and constables.
The Academy now caters to the training needs of all ranks of CBI. Training facilities for certain specialised courses are also made available to the officials of State Police, Central Police Organisations (CPO), Vigilance organisations of public sector undertakings, banks and government departments and Indian Armed Forces.
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