Fresh Govt move to clip probe agencies’ wings

For the second time in less than a year, the government has proposed to stop the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) from handling cases during trials in courts, report Manish Tiwari and Nagendar Sharma.

For the second time in less than a year, the government has proposed to stop the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) from handling cases during trials in courts.

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In the latest move, the law ministry recommended that the CBI and the ED, which handles foreign exchange related cases, be restricted to handling investigations only.

Instead, the ministry wants an independent agency to handle cases — probed by the two agencies — during trials.

The idea was originally mooted by former law minister H.R. Bhardwaj last November. The cabinet approved a draft note in this regard in March.

A ministry official said law minister M. Veerappa Moily’s views backing the setting up of a new prosecution agency had again been communicated to the CBI and ED chiefs.