Appointment of New CBI Director

May 26, 2021

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Recently, the Prime Minister led three-member selection committee had appointed Maharashtra cadre IPS officer of 1985 batch as CBI Director.

He is appointed for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the office or until further orders whichever is earlier.

About

The government has picked him from a panel of three officers shortlisted by the Prime Minister-led high-level selection committee consisting of the Chief Justice of India as well as the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha.
The other two officers were eliminated from the race after Chief Justice of India NV Ramana used the ‘rule of law’ as ruled by the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case of March 2019, where it said that no officer with less than six months to retirement should be appointed as police chief.
- Interestingly, this is for the first time that the rule of six months’ tenure was applied in the appointment of the CBI chief.
  - According to the guidelines set by the Supreme Court in 2004, officers from the four oldest serving batches of IPS are considered for the top post.
  - The officials having experience in anti-corruption investigations or CBI, from the senior-most four batches of IPS cadre, will be empanelled, following which a screening of three officers would be sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister.
CJI made it clear that there shouldn’t be any controversy in the selection process and officials left with less than six months in their retirement should not be considered for the CBI chief’s post.

Appointment to the director

The Director of the CBI is appointed as per section 4A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act(DSPE) of 1946. The appointment to the director is done through the high-power selection committee of the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition.

SC Rulings on the Appointment Process

In Vineet Narayan vs. Union of India (1998), the apex court laid down that the director, CBI shall be appointed on the recommendation of a committee comprising the Central Vigilance Commissioner, vigilance commissioners, secretary (home) and secretary (personnel), and that he shall have a minimum tenure of two years.
In pursuant with SC order, the CBI Director has been provided security of tenure in office by CVC Act 2003.
In July 2018, Supreme court had passed a slew of directions on police reforms and restrained all states and Union territories from appointing any police officer as acting DGPs to avoid favouritism and nepotism in such high-level appointments.
In Prakash Singh Case (2019), Supreme Court judgment that said officers with less than six months left in service should not be considered for the position of DGP
Dispelling confusion regarding an order issued in July 2018, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said senior police officers with a residual tenure of six months before normal retirement could be considered for the post of DGP or higher.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

It is the main investigation agency of the central government for cases relating to corruption and major criminal probes.
It has its origin in the Special Police Establishment set up in 1941 to probe bribery and corruption during World War II.
CBI was set up by a resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1963 after the Santhanam committee recommendation.
The superintendence of CBI rests with Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in corruption cases and with the Department of personnel and training in other matters.
- Presently it acts as an attached office under DOPT.
Although DSPE Act gives legal power to CBI, CBI is not a statutory body as:
- Word ‘CBI’ is not mentioned in the DSPE act.
- The executive order of MHA did not mention CBI to be constituted under DSPE Act.
Functions of CBI include solving:

Issues involved

Lack of Administrative autonomy:
- Currently, vacancies in CBI have to be plugged through State or other Central forces on deputation. Thus, it is susceptible to the government’s ability to manipulate the senior officers, as their future postings are dependent on it.
Lack of Financial Independence:
- Currently, the CBI is not financially independent as administrative and financial control wrestles with the Ministry of Personnel.
Delay in case handling:
- As of now, CBI faces enormous delays in concluding the investigation due to a lack of manpower and resources.
Deficient the workforce:
- It lacks an adequately qualified and competent workforce
Prior permission of states:
- The conduct or continuance of investigation into offences committed with the territory of a state, consent of the state is required which most of the time is delayed or even denied.
Exclusion from RTI
- The role and transparency of the CBI investigation raised public debate in the 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.
Other issues:
- CBI powers are misused for vested gains leading to poor transparency and accountability of the agency to the people at large.

Steps taken by the government to strengthen CBI

Operationalizing CBI courts for effective prosecution.
CBI has been exempted from consultation with UPSC for recruitment to the post of DSP for a period of 3 years in 2017.
Advanced Certified Course for CBI officers to enhance their investigation skills, forensic data collection, collection of evidence, skills etc. by training from National Law School of India University and IIM Bangalore.
Various schemes for Modernization of training centres in CBI, CBI e-governance, comprehensive modernization of CBI branches/offices etc are being implemented.

Way Forward

The role, jurisdiction and legal powers of the CBI need to be clearly laid down.
It will give it goal clarity, role clarity, autonomy in all spheres and an image makeover as an independent autonomous statutory body.