The Central Vigilance
Commission was set up in 1964 on the recommendation of Santanam Committee. The
CVC was a one man Commission for about three and a half decades for exercising
general superintendence over vigilance administration in the Government. Justice Nottoor Srinivasa Rau became the first Central Vigilance Commissioner with effect from 19th February,
1964.
The Supreme Court of India
, in criminal writ petitions nos.340-343/1993 (Vineet
Narain and others Vs.Union of India and others) popularly known as Jain Hawala
case, had directed on 18.12.1997 that statutory status should be conferred upon
the Central Vigilance Commission. It came on the statute book as the
CENTRAL VIGILANCE COMMISSION ACT, 2003 (45 OF 2003).
The Central Vigilance
Commission Act,2003 provides for constitution of Central Vigilance Commission
to inquire or to cause inquiries to be conducted into offences alleged to have
been committed under the Prevention of Corruption Act,1988 by certain
categories of public servants .
The Act also empowers the
Commission to exercise superintendence over the functioning of the Delhi
Special Police Establishment (DSPE) now called Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI). The
Commission is also empowered to review the progress of investigations conducted
by the CBI and the progress of applications pending with the competent
authorities for grant of sanction for prosecution for offences alleged to have
been committed under the Prevention of Corruption Act,1988. The
Commission also exercises superintendence over the vigilance administration of
the various organizations under the Central Government.
The Commission’s
jurisdiction to cause inquiry/investigation into alleged offences of corruption
suo-moto extends only to the upper echelons of public servants viz. members of
All India Services serving in connection with the affairs of the Union, Group
‘A’level officers of the Central Government and such level of officers in the
corporations, Government companies, societies and other local authorities of
the Central Government.
The
Annual Report of the CVC not only gives the details of the work done by it but
also brings out the system failures which lead to corruption in various
Departments/Organisations, system improvements; various preventive measures and
cases in which the Commission's advises were ignored etc.
The emphasis of the
Commission has been to have in place effective preventive measures to fight
corruption and also to increase transparency and accountability in the
functioning of the Government. In tune with the emphasis on good
governance, the Commission closely looks at the prevailing systems and
procedures of the Government departments and its organizations and recommends
system strengthening and improvements. The
Commission has also been continuously emphasizing on Leveraging technology by
adopting e-procurement, e-payment, reverse auction etc. for reducing scope for
corruption and improving transparency, equity and competitiveness in public
procurement.
The Commission has been engaging with various international anti-corruption
agencies/organizations, as a measure of international co-operation. Creating a Knowledge Management System for international
Association of Anti –Corruption Authorities (IAACA) has been one of the recent
collaborative initiatives.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appointment of the CVC Commissioner !
- The
Chief Commissioner of CVC will be appointed by the President of India for a term
of six years or at his retirement at the age of 65-years, which ever is
earliest.
- Hence,
the CVC Chief Commissioner does not hold office at the pleasure of the President.
- He
can be removed from office by the President on ground of misbehavior but
only after the Supreme Court of
India has held an inquiry into his
case and recommend an action against him.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Organisational set-up
The Central Vigilance Commission has its own Secretariat, Chief
Technical Examiners' Wing (CTE) and a wing of Commissioners for Departmental
Inquiries (CDI).
The Secretariat
The Secretariat consists of a Secretary of the rank of Additional
Secretary to the GOI, one officer of the rank of Joint Secretary to the GOI,
ten officers of the rank of Director/Deputy Secretary, four Under Secretaries
and office staff.
Chief Technical Examiners' Wing (CTE)
The Chief Technical Examiner's Organisation constitutes the
technical wing of the Central Vigilance Commission (India) and is manned by two
Engineers of the rank of Chief Engineers(designated as Chief Technical
Examiners) with supporting engineering staff. The main functions assigned to
this organisation are:
- Technical audit of construction
works of Governmental organisations
from a vigilance angle; - Investigation of specific cases of
complaints relating to construction works;
- Extension of assistance to CBI in
their investigations involving technical matters and for evaluation of
properties in Delhi; and
- Tendering of advice/assistance to
the Commission and Chief Vigilance Officers in vigilance cases involving
technical matters.
Commissioners for Departmental Inquiries (CDIs)
There are fifteen posts of Commissioners for Departmental
Inquiries (CDI) in the Commission, 14 in the rank of Deputy
Secretaries/Directors and one in the rank of Joint Secretary to Government of
India. The CDIs function as Inquiry Officers to conduct Oral inquiries in
departmental proceeding initiated against public servants.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jurisdiction of CVC !
Commission’s
Jurisdiction under CVC Act
Which
Ministry/Department controls the CVC?
The
CVC is not controlled by any Ministry/Department. It is an independent body
which is only responsible for the Parliament.
Can the CVC investigate
a case against anybody?
Firstly,
the CVC is not an investigating agency. The CVC either get the investigation
done through the CBI or through the Departmental Chief Vigilance Officers.
Secondly, the CVC orders investigation in to cases of officials of Central
Government Departments/Companies/Organisations only.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SWOT
Analysis of the CVC !
|
Strength (S)
- The
strength of CVC lies in its stature, though it does not find a place in
the Constitution.
- Perhaps
while framing the Constitution it was not expected that there would be so
much of erosion of values and eruption of corruption.
- Otherwise,
they must have included in the Constitution itself, a Commission of the
stature of CVC similar to CEC, CAG and UPSC.
- Probably,
realising this gap that the government thought it fit to give the status
of the CVC at par with the CEC/UPSC and subsequently made it a statutory
body.
- So,
the present stature of CVC is certainly the greatest strength.
The next is its network provided in the
statute by way of extended hands to perform its function, i.e. the Chief
Vigilance Officers (CVOs) on the one hand and the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) on the other. The spread and reach is all over the
country. This certainly is strength.
The next one is the amalgamation of
experience and expertise. This amalgamation comes with the officials
deputed to CVC from different central services. This is unique in a sense
that the repository of knowledge in CVC gets supplemented and enriched through
their domain knowledge / expertise in their respective services.
Finally, the in-house repository of knowledge
available in CVC in its permanent officials who provide not only continuity but
also posses the wealth of knowledge and also in the thousands of complaints,
cases handled and advice tendered by CVC over half a century is a great
strength as well. In fact, with these CVC could set up a Vigilance
Academy which would go beyond the stature and purpose of the International
Anti-Corruption Academy which was inaugurated in September 2010 in Laxenburg,
Vienna, Austria.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weakness (W)
- The biggest weakness of
CVC is its jurisdiction.
Out of the three pillars of our democracy,
CVC has no jurisdiction over Legislature and Judiciary. In the case of
the third pillar, i.e. Executive also, the CVC has jurisdiction only over the
Central Government and the State Governments do not come under
CVC. In a nutshell, the CVC’s jurisdiction is very limited and does
not commensurate with its stature. Even
though the CVC is claimed to be the apex anti-corruption body of India, this limitation
of jurisdiction has been the greatest weakness of CVC.
- The second weakness is
the absence of an exclusive ‘Investigation wing’ in CVC.
Of course, CVC has been undertaking direct
enquiries in addition to the cases referred by it to CBI for investigation.
However, in most of the cases, the CVC depends on its extended hands, the
Chief Vigilance Officers (CVO). The weakness gets exposed here
particularly when there are allegations of corruption against Board level
executives of the Public Sector Enterprises. In all such cases, the
CVOs of the PSEs are not authorised to investigate. The Board Level
executives come under the jurisdiction of the Ministry/Department. Only
the CVOs of Ministry / Department are authorised to enquire into such allegations
against Board level executives. Unfortunately, the CVOs of the
Ministry/Department are part-time CVOs and they have a minimal manpower and a
structured vigilance department is missing. In fact, this is not only
weakness but also vulnerable particularly when a Ministry has half a dozen or
more PSEs under its basket and managed by a part-time CVO without a structured
vigilance department.
- Another weakness is the
lack clarity on the role of the extended hands of CVC, i.e. the
CVOs.
Presently, the CVOs act as special
advisor/assistant to the Head of the department or the CEO of organisation.
At the same time, they report functionally to CVC and per se has
independence in functioning. Nevertheless, the actual protection to CVOs
comes from CVC when the ACRs of CVOs are finally accepted by CVC after the
reporting by the Head of the Department/CEO and review by the Secretary of the
Administrative Ministry. However, this alone cannot guarantee total
independence of functioning of CVO on a day to day basis. The ‘catch 22’
situation can not be ruled out, which is definitely a weakness.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Opportunities (O)
Most of the time, the opportunities emerge out of weaknesses, if
they could be identified. Every weakness when identified provides an
opportunity and the onus lies with us to convert it into strength. Some
of the weaknesses discussed above certainly provide opportunity to convert them
in to strength.
Firstly, the weakness of limited jurisdiction of CVC could be
converted into strength in the following manner:
(i) Recommendation No.71 of the Santhanam Committee reads as
follows: ’71. Sub-offices of the Central Vigilance Commission may
be established at Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Madras in charge of serving
Government servants of a sufficiently high rank and to discharge such functions
and duties as may be allotted to them by the Central Vigilance Commission.’
- So,
here lies an opportunity to expand. This does not automatically
expand the jurisdiction of CVC.
- Nevertheless,
the Commission could perhaps take up the issue further to place it at par
with the CEC by all means.
- Like
the CEC is responsible for the State Elections as well, the CVC should be
made responsible for entire anti-corruption measures in the country
including the States.
- For
this purpose, the CVC needs to be given the Constitutional status with the
State Vigilance Commissions under its fold.
- After
all, the money flows to the States from the Union government and the RBI
under the Union has the complete control over the States on money matter
and as such a simple interpretation could be drawn to this effect and
CVC’s jurisdiction could be extended to all States to ensure proper
spending of the money allocation.
- Then
automatically, the State Vigilance Commission could come under CVC as in
the case of Election Commission. This may not happen
immediately.
- Till
that time, the Commission may seriously take all efforts to establish
sub-offices
in the four metro cities as recommended by the Santhanam Committee.
(ii) The Commission may also consider taking officials on
deputation from the State Governments, so that such officials could carry home
the vigilance experience which could be utilised for the state governments by
entrusting them with the vigilance work in the state government departments.
- Secondly,
the role of CVOs needs to be reviewed and redefined. The present
status of CVOs as ‘Special Advisor/Assistant’ to the Head of the
department
or the CEO of the organisation needs to be changed and redefined as a
‘special monitor/oversight expert’ who must report to CVC.
- In
fact, this would become feasible with the establishment of sub-offices in
Metro cities as recommended by the Santhanam Committee.
- By
this way, the CVOs could be made to report to the CVC through the
sub-offices in their respective regions. This would be similar to
the set up and reporting of the Audit under CAG.
(iii) There is yet another opportunity available in taking officers
from various central services on deputation to CVC. It is true that these
officials come on deputation to CVC with their domain knowledge and
expertise. However, they do
not generally possess vigilance experience. In fact, during their
deputation period with CVC, their domain knowledge gets amalgamated with the
vigilance experience, which needs to be utilised in a much effective and
practical way. Here a cap could be introduced. For the purpose of
deputation to CVC, there should be a condition in such a way that the officers
who are taken on deputation to CVC should initially work in CVC for a period of
2-3 years and then would be posted as CVO in some organisation/department
depending upon the need / choice. This in a way would be like an
internship in CVC followed by a practical regular work in the organisations.
No CVO who has not completed the so called internship in CVC should be
appointed as CVO in the organisations. This kind of model is working
successfully in the education department of Singapore, wherein the officials
who frame the policy at the government level are subsequently deputed to the
schools/colleges to implement the policies which they made. This perhaps
will ensure that only policies which are practical alone are made.
The Commission could also think of selection of CVOs to the PSEs
through the PESB route, wherein the CVC could be made as the Chairman of the
Selection Committee.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Threats (T)
- One
of the major threats as of now is the Lokpal. The workload of CVC would go up, with lokpal
referring complaints against even Group B, C and D officials to it. The
CVC will continue to investigate complaints against Group A officials
independently as well as on reference from lokpal.
- Secondly,
the advisory role of CVC has also turned out to be a threat
over the period of time. As per the scheme of things, the option
available with the CVC when its advices were not taken by the authorities
has been to reflect such cases in its Annual Report, which are placed before
both the Houses of Parliament. The intention behind this was that
such cases reported in the Annual Report are deliberated and debated in
the Parliament so that the authorities concerned are pulled up and held
accountable for their (in)action. Unfortunately, as is witnessed,
there has been hardly any discussion on the Annual Report of CVC in the
Parliament. An easy parallel could be drawn between annual report of
CAG and CVC to observe the contrast. This certainly is a major
threat. Unless the Annual Reports of CVC are taken seriously and
debated in the Parliament, the whole effort of the CVC and its extended
hands, i.e. the CVOs would not yield result, particularly when the role of
CVC and CVO are advisory in nature. This threat could be overcome only
when the CVC gets the Constitutional authority like the CEC and the CAG.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miscellaneous !
According to the new Lokpal and Lokayut Bill, the CVC would continue to head the selection
committee to shortlist the CBI chief, and will also shortlist the newly
proposed director of prosecution for the investigating agency.
