New Delhi : The Central Bureau of Investigation (
CBI
) has decided to
review
the performance of its investigating officers (
IOs
) on a monthly basis, a move aimed at increasing the efficiency of the agency, which has a
pendencyCorrect your spelling
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of at least 700
cases
older than a year (according to the latest available data), officials familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. Currently, reviews are conducted every quarter.
As part of
monthlyCorrect article usage
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review
exercise, the work of
IOs
will be rated on the basis of
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of charge sheets filed, number of source information reports (SIRs) generated, number of case diaries completed, and whether all processes as mentioned in the
CBI
Crime
Manual l (photographing/video graphing of
crime
scene, search proceedings, recording of statements etc) were followed.
The
review
will
also
record whether formalities
such
as seeking prosecution sanction, expert opinions and proper marking of evidence are being done, the people cited above added.
Another important objective of the monthly
review
is to prevent
corruption
and opportunities for
corruption
, the people said. In January, four agency officers including two deputy superintendents were arrested for weakening the agency’s investigation in bank fraud
cases
in lieu of huge bribes.
The current quarterly reviews are carried out in all
CBI
branches and reviewed by the head of branches/zones.
The decision to institute a monthly
review
has been taken by interim
CBI
director
Praveen Sinha, who, according to one of the officers cited above, felt the pendency in
CBI
needs to be brought down. To be sure, the monthly
review
is separate from ACRs (annual confidential reports) prepared annually for all government employees.
According to the Central Vigilance Commission’s (CVC’s) annual report 2019,
investigationAdd an article
the investigation
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was pending in 744
CBI
cases
for at least a year at the end of December 2019 out of which 678 were related to
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of
Corruption
(PC) Act. About, 25
corruption
cases
have been pending for at least five years. Overall, a total of 1,239 investigations and enquiries were pending with
CBI
till December 2019.
In its updated
Crime
Manual in December 2020,
CBI
stated that investigations in a majority of
corruption
cases
will be completed within nine months. The manual stated that the existing one-year deadline in
corruption
cases
will apply only in
cases
where a high ranking government official
such
as a joint secretary or secretary is accused, and the probe is being supervised by an officer of additional
director
rank or above in
CBI
.
The new
CBI
Crime
Manual, updated after 15 years, was largely prepared under the supervision of Sinha
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when he was the additional
director
of the agency. “He (Praveen Sinha) wants investigations to expedite by
IOs
thoroughly doing their work,” said a
second
officer.
Former
CBI
joint
director
NR Wassan said, “Earlier there used to be a bi-monthly
review
of every
CBI
branch but it was quite taxing. It has to be seen how so many
IOs
will be reviewed every month. If the SPs (Superintendents of Police) and DIGs (Deputy Inspector Generals) do the
review
properly,
such
reviews always help.