The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was established in 1941 as the Special Police Establishment (SPE).
The functions of the SPE were to investigate bribery and corruption in transactions with the War and Supply Department of India, set up during World War II with its headquarters in Lahore. After the end of the war, there was a continued need for a central governmental agency to investigate bribery and corruption by central-government employees so it was transferred to the Home Department by the 1946 Delhi Special Police Establishment Act. It was renamed the Central Bureau of Investigation by a Home Ministry resolution on 1 April 1963.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the foremost investigating police agency in India, an elite force which plays a role in public life and ensuring the health of the national economy. It is under the jurisdiction of the Government of India. The CBI is involved in major criminal probes, and is the Interpol agency in India. Agency headquarters is in the Indian capital, New Delhi, with field offices located in major cities throughout India. The CBI is overseen by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions of the Union Government, headed by a Union Minister who reports directly to the Prime Minister
The CBI established a reputation as India’s foremost investigative agency with the resources for complicated cases (Hawala scandal,Bhopal gas tragedy priyadarshini mattoo murder case, Bofors scandal,Sohrabuddin case,Sant Singh Chatwal case,2G spectrum scam,Indian coal allocation scam and so on) and it is also requested to assist the investigation of crimes such as murder, kidnapping and terrorism. The Supreme Court and a number of high courts in the country also began assigning such investigations to the CBI on the basis of petitions filed by aggrieved parties. In 1987, the CBI was divided into two divisions: the Anti-Corruption Division and the Special Crimes Division.
Organisational structure
The CBI is headed by a director, an IPS officer with a rank of Director General of Police or Commissioner of Police (State). The director is selected based on the CVC Act 2003, and has a two-year term. Other ranks in the CBI which may be staffed by the IPS or the IRS are Special director, Additional director, Joint director, Deputy inspector general of police, Senior superintendent of police and Superintendent of police. Additional superintendent of police, police Inspector, Sub-inspector, assistant sub-inspector, head constable, senior constable and Constable are recruited through SSC or the rough deputation from Police and Income Tax Departments. The CBI is subject to five ministries of the Government of India:
1. Ministry of Home Affairs: For Cadre clearance
2. DoPT: For Administration, budget and induction of non IPS officers
3. Union Public Service Commission : For selection of Officers above the rank of Deputy SP
4. Law and Justice Ministry: For Public prosecutors
5. Central Vigilance Commission: For Anti-corruption cases
Selection committee
According to the CVC Act 2003, the committee recommends a panel of officers for director of the CBI. It consists of:
· Chief Vigilance Commissioner – chairperson
· Vigilance Commissioners – members
· Secretary, Home Ministry – member
· Secretary (Coordination and Public Grievances) in the Cabinet Secretariat – member
When making recommendations, the committee considers the views of the outgoing director.Final selection are made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet from the panel recommended by the selection committee.
Jurisdiction, powers and restrictions.
The legal powers of investigation of the CBI are derived from the DSPE Act 1946, which confers powers, duties, privileges and liabilities on the Delhi Special Police Establishment (CBI) and officers of the Union Territories. The central government may extend to any area (except Union Territories) the powers and jurisdiction of the CBI for investigation, subject to the consent of the government of the concerned state. The CBI can investigate only with notification by the central government.
The High Courts and the Supreme Court have the jurisdiction to order a CBI investigation into an offense alleged to have been committed in a state without the state’s consent, according to a five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court (in Civil Appeals 6249 and 6250 of 2001) on 17 Feb 2010. The bench ruled:
Being the protectors of civil liberties of the citizens, this Court and the High Courts have not only the power and jurisdiction but also an obligation to protect the fundamental rights, guaranteed by Part III in general and under Article 21 of the Constitution in particular, zealously and vigilantly.
—Five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of India.
The court clarified that this is an extraordinary power which must be exercised sparingly, cautiously and only in exceptional situations.
Autonomy
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will no more require government’s prior sanction to launch investigations against officers of joint secretary rank and above in corruption cases. A constititution bench, comprising five judges, headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha quashed Section 6A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, which mandated prior sanction in case of senior officers in corruption cases. The bench, also comprising justices AK Patnaik, Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya, Dipak Misra and Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, said this section also violates Article 14 of the Constitution.
Terming that the provision is discriminatory and divides the bureaucracy into two sets of officers and shields those at the senior level, the judgement said, “All government officials have to be treated equally and have to face the same process of inquiry in graft cases.”
