‘Release the caged parrot’: Madras HC seeks statutory status for CBI

“This order is an attempt to release the "Caged Parrot" (CBI),” reads a Madras High Court order delivered on Tuesday, with a High Court division bench issuing a slew directions to the Union government to revamp the workings of the Central Bureau of Investigation. Stating that “very sadly, the CBI is dragging its feet,” the Madras High Court has asked the Union government to set up a separate law giving statutory status to the CBI. “The independence of CBI is necessary for an impartial, neutral, credible investigation of the cases investigated by it,” the High Court bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and B Pugalendhi said.

The court was hearing a petitioner’s plea to transfer a case to the CBI. While denying the request, the bench noted that often a line is parroted in court that the CBI has no resources and manpower to investigate the case. In a previous order in the same case, the court had raised 15 queries regarding the resources, man power, investigating skills, infrastructural facilities available with CBI in the interest of the public.

“People revere CBI as a premier trustworthy agency, which could investigate the cases impartially and fairly and prosecute the case before the Court efficiently and properly. When such is the trust and faith of the people, very sadly, the CBI is dragging its feet, whenever there is a demand for CBI enquiry, on the ground that resources and manpower available with CBI are very restricted and therefore, it cannot conduct investigations,” the court said.

Saying that the CBI has very limited manpower, the court noted the CBI’s submission that currently there were 5796 officials working under the CBI in the year 2000, and that number has increased to 7273 as on December 14, 2020. 

“There is a need to increase the resources and manpower to investigate more cases. For that, there is a necessity to have a special Act by which the CBI could be granted statutory status. Though very sensitive and complicated cases are being investigated or handled, the number of cases handled by CBI is just equivalent or less than the case handled by a single police station in the country. Therefore, CBI has to take up more cases by increasing its manpower and other resources,” the Madras HC said, adding that only when CBI is given statutory status, the autonomy of CBI would be ensured. 

The Madras High Court then issued a set of 12 directions to the Union government, including telling the Union government to consider and take a decision for enactment of a separate Act giving statutory status with more powers and jurisdiction to CBI at the earliest. The HC directed that CBI be made more independent, like the Election Commission of India and Comptroller and Auditor General of India, and that the Director of CBI be given the same powers that the Secretary to the Government has, and that the CBI Director shall directly report to the Minister or Prime Minister without going through Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

“Central Government shall make the CBI independent with functional autonomy without administrative control of the Government. The Central Government is directed to take a decision on the comprehensive proposal for cadre review and restructuring of CBI within a period of one month,” the HC added. 

The HC also pointed out that in many instances there is an “enormous delay in concluding the investigation by CBI, and so there shall be a direction to the Union Government to either enhance the infrastructural facilities available with Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) that aids investigation in cases, or to establish CFSL branches zone wise, so that there would not be any delay in getting the opinion of the experts. “The Central Government should establish at least one CFSL in each zone viz., South, East, West within one year,” the HC directed.