The CBI is against reporting to a new anti-corruption agency — Jan Lokpal — as envisaged by Anna Hazare.
The CBI is against reporting to a new anti-corruption agency — Jan Lokpal — as envisaged by Anna Hazare. But it will welcome the Lokpal without division of the premier investigation agency.
A team of top CBI officials, including its chief AP Singh, will on Wednesday appear before the parliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice, where they will push for greater autonomy for the agency.
“We would welcome Lokpal without division of the CBI. We all know that Lokpal cannot be success without the CBI. We are in favour of functional autonomy of the agency while simultaneously the organisational structure of the CBI should not be destroyed,” a top CBI official said.
CBI officials claim that transferring the anti-corruption wing’s officers to the Lokpal will adversely impact the investigations that the CBI is meant to handle. Currently, the anti-corruption wing often teams up with the economic offenses branch and the special crime branch, for some cases.
“Keeping the anti-corruption branch under the Lokpal will make the agency weak and ineffective. Ideally the entire CBI should be under the Lokpal otherwise it cannot work,” an official said, further explaining the agency’s stand, which they are going to convey it to the parliamentary committee in a 45-minute presentation.
The CBI would also plead for greater independence like the comptroller and auditor general of India, which gets financial funding from the consolidated fund of the country.
“With more than 10,000 under-trial cases and over 3,000 cases under investigation, the CBI basically looks up at a single window prosecution clearance, which Lokpal can provide us. Currently we need to go to several ministries and department for prosecution sanction to take up investigation against any official,” the official added.
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