CBI, ED oppose move, say it’ll hit efficiency

Both agencies have formally objected to the government’s move to bring the prosecution machinery under its direct control, saying this would adversely affect their performance, Manish Tiwari reports.

The government’s move to hive off prosecution work from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and entrust it to an independent Directorate of Prosecution has been opposed by the two premier agencies.

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Both agencies have formally objected to the government’s move to bring the prosecution machinery under its direct control, saying this would adversely affect their performance.

The CBI recently requested the government to shelve the plan, sources in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) told HT.

Though the proposal has been under discussion for the past few years, the Union Cabinet approved a draft note in this regard a few days ago. The proposal has got the green signal from the law ministry and the Prime Minister.

The government’s keenness to push the proposal through when it has barely a month of its tenure left has raised eyebrows in administrative circles.

The CBI, the sources said, told the government that such a move would seriously jeopardise the agency’s efforts to get delivery of justice and lead to a decline in its efficiency.

The ED has also expressed serious concerns.

It told the government that the setting up of a separate prosecution agency was likely to erode the administrative authority and control of the Department of Revenue and Ministry of Finance.

The CBI told the DoPT that in the states, which have separate directorates of prosecution, the conviction percentage is less than 43 per cent.

In some states the conviction percentage is in single digits, mainly because of the lack of synergy between the investigation and the prosecution divisions.

The CBI fears that its conviction rate of 70 per cent would go down if the new agency is created.