Centre to make CBI's prosecution wing 'functionally independent' of the agency

New Delhi: Miffed with the government’s move to “dilute” powers of the CBI by making its prosecution wing “functionally independent” of the agency, senior officials are preparing to raise the issue before Parliament’s standing committee, which is looking into the proposed amendments in the Lokpal Act.

Senior officials of the agency feel that the move will have an adverse impact on the CBI’s conviction rate and it will also pave the way for ‘direct control’ of the government in the ‘day to day’ functioning of the agency.

As per the proposed Lokpal and Lokayuktas and Other Related Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014, director prosecution will not function under the supervision of the head of the agency and instead he will report to the law ministry.

It may be recalled that it was during the tenure of ex-CBI director A.P. Singh, the agency made a strong case for maintaining its autonomy and opposed any move by the government to bifurcate its investigation and prosecution wings and also demanded that the director prosecution should function under the supervision of the agency chief.