The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday observed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should be made more independent like the Election Commission of India and Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
Taking into account the enormous faith and trust people had in CBI, the premier investigative agency, a Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and B. Pugalendhi passed a series of directions and said that the order was an attempt to release the ‘caged parrot’.
The court directed the Union government to consider and take a decision for enactment of a separate Act giving statutory status with more powers and jurisdiction to the CBI at the earliest. Separate budgetary allocation shall be made for the CBI, the judges said.
The judges said that the CBI Director shall be given powers as that of the Secretary to the government and shall directly report to the Prime Minister/Minister. The Centre shall make the agency independent with functional autonomy without administrative control of the government.
The Central Forensic Science Laboratory shall have more modern facilities and should be augmented on par with the facilities available to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States of America and Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom, the court said.
The judges observed that the CBI should file a well thought-out policy within a period of six weeks for permanently recruiting Cyber Forensic experts and Financial Audit experts, so that all the branches/wings of CBI could have the experts available with them and not on a case-to-case basis.
The Department of Personnel and Training should clear all pending proposals pertaining to CBI infrastructure development that included land construction, residential accommodation, upgradation of available technical gadgets etc., within a period of six weeks.
Taking note of the submission made by the CBI that it had to work within the constraints of shortage of manpower, the court directed the CBI Director to send the detailed proposal seeking an increase in the divisions/wings as well as strength of Officers in the CBI to the Centre within six weeks and the Centre to pass orders within three months.
The Central government was directed to take a decision on the comprehensive proposal for cadre review and restructuring of the CBI within one month. The Centre shall take steps to enhance the infrastructural facilities available with CFSL and should establish at least one CFSL in each zone within one year, the court said.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Ramanathapuram District Pathikkapattor Sangam seeking CBI probe into a chit fund scam. The court, however, declined to refer the case to the CBI.
