- Chief Justice of India(CJI) has suggested a comprehensive legislation to give Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) a statutory status equivalent to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
- He has listed various key concerns with the CBI such as (a)legal ambiguity (b)weak human resource (c)lack of adequate investment (d)accountability and (e)political and administrative interference.
- He has also suggested that public order must be made part of the Concurrent List for investigation of interstate crimes.Currently,Public order is under the exclusive domain of state governments.
- In the context of political and administrative interference in CBI,he said that in the Vineet Narain v. Union of India case,the Supreme Court had expressed concern over the state of affairs and laid down explicit guidelines for protecting the integrity of CBI.
- However,due to the superintendence and control of the CBI continues to lie with the executive by virtue of Section 4 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment(DSPE) Act,1946.Hence,the possibility of it being used as a political instrument remains.
- He also pointed out that under the DSPE Act,the CBI requires consent of the State concerned for investigation.But due to vested interests or bureaucratic lethargy such consent is often either denied or delayed, severely compromising the investigation.
- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating police agency in India.It comes under the Ministry of Personnel,Pension & Public Grievances,Government of India.The CBI is not a statutory body.The CBI investigative and jurisdiction powers are governed by the DSPE Act,1946.
