CVC seeks its own investigation wing to check corruption

New Delhi, Sep 28: The Central Vigilance Commission has sought an exclusive investigation bureau under it to deal more efficiently with cases of corruption and ensure speedy prosecution.

"There is need for creation of a dedicated investigation wing as certain important cases are enquired into directly by the Commission," Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar told PTI.

At present, the CVC refers to the CBI cases pertaining to criminal conspiracy among others.

"The CVC has been mandated by the Act to exercise superintendence over the entire vigilance administration. However, the Act requires the CVC to exercise this function according to the directions issued by the government, thus limiting its independence," Kumar said.

The Commissioner said that the CVC also plans to enhance the standards of vigilance investigation by improving certain guidelines.

"Prevention has to be combined with strong deterrent action against officials found guilty of unethical behaviour.

Our aim would be to deal ruthlessly with acts of corruption while at the same time ensuring that the honest have nothing to fear," he said.

"To make the work of vigilance more objective and efficient, the Commission is developing standards for the conduct of vigilance investigation and reporting," he added.

The probity watchdog has also sought adequate manpower and resources.

"The volume of work in the Commission has been increasing and the existing manpower is proving to be inadequate. As the Act does not give staffing powers to the Commission, we have requested the government to provide the necessary staff," Kumar said.

The CVC is enquiring into high profile cases including irregularities in the Commonwealth Games among others.

According to the Commission's latest performance report for July, about 1,681 corruption cases were disposed off and recoveries of about Rs 5.94 crore were effected.

PTI