CBI must not be under Centre’s control, facilities should be on par with FBI: Madras High Court

Chennai: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has asked the Central Government to consider and pass a law that would grant greater autonomy to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A bench comprising Justices N.Kirubakaran and Pugalendhi said that the agency CBI must not be under the administrative control of the central government. The court also called for improving modern facilities of the agency to bring it on par with FBI of the US.

The bench mentioned that the CBI should be on par with bodies such as the Election Commission and Comptroller Auditor General (CAG).

The court was hearing a plea by a group from Ramanathapuram that sought a CBI probe into an alleged Rs 300 crore financial fraud.

In its order, the court pointed out the public demand of CBI investigation in cases involving heinous, sensitive crimes, in the absence of proper investigation by local police.

It noted that while the people trusted the CBI and its credibility, the premier probing agency dragged its feet citing resource and manpower shortages which prevented them from conducting investigations.

Referring to the many serious cases investigated by CBI that led to acquittal, the court said that it reflected badly upon the investigation of the agency.

It added that CBI’s dependence on officers from police, CISF and CRPF in investigating white-collar crimes highlighted that the officers coming on deputation may not have the experience in probing such cases. A slew of measures and modernisations to augment the CBI were also shared.

The court order mentioned the need for CBI officers have a wide spectrum of knowledge and expertise in various fields. Numerous high-profile cases such as Bhopal Gas Tragedy, 2G Scam, Coal Scam, Hawala Scandal, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide etc. were stated to showcase the different domains of crime.

Among the directions issued to the Government of India were to enact a separate Act giving statutory status with more powers and jurisdiction to CBI, to make the agency more independent like Election Commission and CAG, to provide a separate budgetary allocation for the CBI and that the Director of CBI should be given powers as that of Secretary to the government.

The bench noted that CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory) shall have more modern facilities that are on par with the FBI in the US and the Scotland Yard of the UK.

The Court order also urged the CBI to file a policy for permanent recruitment of cyber forensic experts, financial audit experts and also send a detailed proposal seeking an increase in divisions and strength of officers in CBI.

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