CBI

CBI must be autonomous, but also bound by accountability and professional integrity

Faced with a government disinterested in granting it functional autonomy, CBI has now made a final entreaty to the country's highest court, praying that it be freed from shackles of central control. That CBI had to wait 100 days before the government approved purchase of a laptop computer and three years for a measly mobile phone points to the disdain with which the powers that be treat India's premier anti-corruption probe agency. Such sloth and inertia illustrategovernment interest in keeping CBI tied tightly to it on a financial leash.

Besides overall independence, a second area of dispute between Centreand CBI is over enhanced powers for the agency chief, who has sought for himself status equivalent to a secretary to the government. CBI argues that such elevation would allow the organisation head to act without bureaucratic constraints and provide greater administrative and financial elbow room to him. There is indeed a strong case for according autonomy to the CBI if it is to become a smart organisation capable of responding to complex criminal trends, effective policing, investigative priorities and legal demands of the 21st century.

But autonomy without accountability is potentially dangerous, especially for a law enforcement agency that has, over the years, allowed itself to be manipulated by its political masters. Breaking free from government fetters must be accompanied by accountability in line with the institutional architecture of India's democratic system. At the same time, any attempt to transform itself must incorporate a self-disciplining approach where individual senior officers cannot be seen to have biases or pre-conceived notions. Competence and success in solving cases turns, in part, on embracing and practicing higher standards of professional ethics, personal integrity and indeed gender sensitivity.