New, independent body needed to oversee investigative agencies: CJI
Recently the Chief Justice of India (CJI) has underlined the need for an independent body to oversee all investigative agencies.
Simultaneously, the Chief Justice has suggested the formation of an independent umbrella institution to bring different investigative agencies under a single organization.
Proposed Umbrella Institution:
- It can be constituted by bringing a law. It shall clearly define the powers, functions and jurisdiction of this agency.
- It will bring various central agencies like CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Serious Fraud Investigation Office under a single organization.
- The head of this institution should be an impartial and independent authority. He will be appointed by a committee.
- There should be separate prosecution and investigation mechanisms to ensure complete independence.
Investigative agencies in India and their related issues
- In India, several central investigative agencies have been set up to maintain law and order.
- But, these agencies have to face many issues, such as the agencies have to go through many proceedings during investigation. This system weakens the evidence and with time, contradictions also appear in the statements. Thus it takes a long time to prove innocent.
- The proactivity and inaction in some cases has raised questions about the social legitimacy or credibility of these agencies.
Other issues: There is a lack of comprehensive laws to guide these agencies. Apart from this, there are other issues like corruption etc.
Source – The Hindu
