Central Bureau of Investigation - (Part - 1) | Indian Polity for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Introduction
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), functioning under Dept. of Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Pension & Public Grievances, Government of India, is the premier investigating police agency in India. It is also the nodal police agency in India which coordinates investigation on behalf of Interpol Member countries.

Background 

• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) owes its origin to the Special Police Establishment, constituted by the British government in 1941, which was substituted by the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946. 
• The CBI came into existence on 1 April, 1963, through a Government of India resolution. The establishment of the CBI was recommended by the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption (1962-64) 
• The CBI is not a statutory body. Its investigative and jurisdiction powers are governed by the DSPE Act, 1946.

Composition of CBI: 

• The CBI is headed by a Director and he is assisted by a Special Director or an additional director. 
• Additionally, it has a number of joint directors, deputy inspector generals, superintendents of police and all other usual ranks of police personnel

Organizational structure of CBI

The CBI has the following Divisions: 

• Anti-Corruption Division 
• Economic Offences Division 
• Special Crimes Division 
• Directorate of Prosecution 
• Administration Division 
• Policy & Coordination Division 
• Central Forensic Science Laboratory

Functions of CBI

• Investigating cases of corruption and fraud committed by public servants of all Central Govt. Departments, Central Public Sector Undertakings and Central Financial Institutions. 
• Investigating economic crimes, including bank frauds, financial frauds, Import Export & Foreign Exchange violations, large-scale smuggling of narcotics, antiques, cultural property and smuggling of other contraband items etc. 
• Investigating special Crimes, such as cases of terrorism, bomb blasts, sensational homicides, kidnapping for ransom and crimes committed by the mafia/the underworld. 
• Coordinating the activities of the anti-corruption agencies and the various state police forces. 
• Taking up, on the request of a state government, any case of public importance for investigation. 
• Maintaining crime statistics and disseminating criminal information

Powers and Jurisdiction of CBI

• Section 3 of the DSPE Act confers upon the CBIs concurrent and co-extensive powers to carry out the investigation of the offences mentioned under the same section. 
• According to Section 6 of the DSPE Act, The Central Government has the power to extend the jurisdiction of the CBI to any area, except union territories, that falls within the geographical boundaries of India, subject to the consent of the state so concerned.
• An additional power conferred in the CBI Constitution is that CBI can correspond with and demand information from any Ministry or Department of the central or State Government. 
• The officers of the CBI also have the added power of being exempt from the provisions of the Right to Information Act of 2005.

Issues with CBI

• Vulnerability to political pressure: The CBI has often been criticised for its alleged failure to function impartially and objectively as an agency of law and acting at the government’s behest. However, simultaneously there has always been an ever-increasing demand for investigation of complicated cases involving influential persons to be handed over to the CBI. In 2013, the Supreme Court called it a “caged parrot”. 
• Issue with legislation: The charter of duties of the CBI are not protected by legislation. Instead, its functions are based merely on a government resolution that draws its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946- a colonial law. Critics are of the opinion that this makes CBI merely the premier investigative arm of the Union government. 
• No own cadre: The CBI is run by officers on deputation, who are susceptible to the government’s ability to manipulate the senior officers as they are dependent on the Central government for future postings 
• Internal conflicts: Internal conflicts in CBI is a major challenge to the functioning of the organization. The present conflict between Director and Special Director and their public allegations against each other raises serious questions about the integrity and image of the agency. 
• Delays in concluding investigations: Enormous delays in concluding investigations is a major criticism of CBI. Supreme Court and High Courts hand over a large number of sensitive cases to the CBI for investigation without additional manpower.
• Challenges in Investigation and Human resource issue: 
  (i) The CBI face challenges in investigating many crimes and quality of investigation has been questioned.
  (ii) It also faces an acute shortage of manpower in the ranks of Constable, Head Constable, Inspector and Superintendent of Police.
• Low conviction: In majority of the cases of corruption and financial irregularities probed by the CBI, conviction rates are very low. A parliamentary panel reported that on the corruption cases handled by the CBI, there are studies that show that the conviction rate is abysmally low (3%)- Hindu Business line- October 31^st 2017. 
• Dependence on State governments: CBI is its dependence on State governments for invoking its authority to investigate cases in a State, even when such investigation targets a Central government employee.
  
• Misuse of CBI: There has been allegations that the government misuses CBI to target opposition parties and settle political scores. This has largely been responsible for the state governments’ opposition to enacting a Central law for the CBI. 
• Overlapping of functions: A Parliamentary Standing Committee (2015) observed that there is an overlap in jurisdictions of CVC, CBI and Lokpal in certain cases with potential to create serious functional problems. The Committee observed that existing provisions make it possible for a complaint of corruption against an official being simultaneously dealt by multiple agencies. 
• Exclusion from RTI: The role and transparency of CBI investigation raised public debate in Bofors scam, Jain hawala, 2G scam, coal scam and other prominent cases. However, even after the enactment of the RTI Act, 2005, the CBI has managed to keep itself outside the purview of the Act.