The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India wants to appoint ‘eligible and willing officers’ from financial institutions, such as RBI, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to help it in investigation of high-profile cases. CBI say these senior advisers on foreign exchange, foreign trade, and taxation will provide technical assistance to the agency in high-profile cases such as loan fraud by Vijay Mallya and other multi-crore rupees chit-fund scams.
CBI is currently facing acute shortage of staff, and has written to RBI, central government ministries, states governments and other financial institutions for appointment of “eligible candidates” as advisers. CBI has a sanctioned strength of 7,274 employees but 1,531 posts are currently vacant.
“It may be noted that the officers coming on deputation to CBI are entitled for special incentive allowance at the rate of 15 per cent on the pay,” the agency’s communiqué said.
According to the letter, financial institutions can also nominate its officers for deputation to CBI. The advisors will work either in Anti-Corruption wing or Economic Offences wing of the agency.
Just a few days back, CBI had announced to create a SIT to speed up probes in some corruption cases such as loan default by liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya and AgustaWestland corruption case. This SIT is being headed by Gujarat IPS officer Rakesh Asthana, a police service officer of Gujarat cadre, who also led the Gujarat SIT that investigated the burning of Sabarmati Express in Godhra in February 2002.
The CBI Director had recently informed Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice that the current staff of the agency can investigate around 700 cases a year, but the number of cases have almost doubled in recent times and there is an urgent need to induct more officers in the agency to investigate cases. CBI informed that 1,200 domestic cases and 62 foreign investigations are pending probe.
“He, therefore, expressed (the view) that unless state governments provide the manpower by way of sending more of their personnel on deputation to the CBI, a time could come that CBI would collapse and fail,” the panel’s report had said.
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