| Central Vigilance Commission | |
| Seal of the Central Vigilance Commission | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | February,1964 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Federal agency | India |
| Governing body | Government of India |
| General nature |
|
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | New Delhi, India |
| Agency executive | Pradeep Kumar, Central Vigilance Commissioner |
| Website | |
| http://www.cvc.nic.in/ | |
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is an apex Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption. It has the status of an autonomous body, free of control from any executive authority, charged with monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central Government of India, and advising various authorities in central Government organizations in planning, executing, reviewing and reforming their vigilance work.
It was set up by the Government of India in February, 1964 on the recommendations of the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, headed by Shri K. Santhanam, to advise and guide Central Government agencies in the field of vigilance.[1] Nittoor Srinivasa Rau, was selected as the first Chief Vigilance Commissioner of India.
The Annual Report of the CVC not only gives the details of the work done by it but also brings out the system failures which leads to corruption in various Departments/Organisations, system improvements, various preventive measures and cases in which the Commission's advises were ignored etc.
Contents |
The CVC is not an investigating agency, and it either gets the investigation done through the CBI or through the Departmental Chief Vigilance Officers.[2]
The only investigation carried out by the CVC is that of examining Civil Works of the Government which is done through the Chief Technical Officer.[3]
Corruption investigations against government officials can proceed only after the government permits them. The CVC publishes a list of cases where permissions are pending, some of which may be more than a year old[4]
The CVC has also been publishing a list of corrupt government officials against which it has recommended punitive action.[5]
A few years after the murder of IIT Kanpur alumnus NHAI engineer Satyendra Dubey, the CVC launched an initiative to protect whistleblowers. However, this program has been criticized by ex-Chief Justice of India R.C. Lahoti as being ineffective[6]
The Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Vigilance Commissioners shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal; provided that every appointment under this sub-section shall be made after obtaining the recommendation of a Committee consisting of:
The Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner shall be removed from his office only by order of the President on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity after the Supreme Court, on a reference made to it by the President, has, on inquiry, reported that the Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner, as the case may be, ought on such ground be removed. The President may suspend from office, and if deem necessary prohibit also from attending the office during inquiry, the Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner in respect of whom a reference has been made to the Supreme Court until the President has passed orders on receipt of the report of the Supreme Court on such reference. The President may, by order, remove from office the Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner if the Central Vigilance Commissioner or such Vigilance Commissioner, as the case may be:
The Central Vigilance Commission has its own Secretariat, Chief Technical Examiners' Wing (CTE) and a wing of Commissioners for Departmental Inquiries (CDI).
The Secretariat consists of a Secretary of the rank of Additional Secretary to the GOI, one officer of the rank of Joint Secretary to the GOI, ten officers of the rank of Director/Deputy Secretary, four Under Secretaries and office staff.
The Chief Technical Examiner's Organisation constitutes the technical wing of the Central Vigilance Commission (India) and is manned by two Engineers of the rank of Chief Engineers(designated as Chief Technical Examiners) with supporting engineering staff. The main functions assigned to this organisation are:
Tendering of advice/assistance to the Commission and Chief Vigilance Officers in vigilance cases involving technical matters.
There are fifteen posts of Commissioners for Departmental Inquiries (CDI) in the Commission, 14 in the rank of Deputy Secretaries/Directors and one in the rank of Joint Secretary to Government of India. The CDIs function as Inquiry Officers to conduct inquiries in departmental proceedings initiated against public servants.