Why is CBI the go to agency in India for investigation?

THE CBI: Whenever a case of any significance surfaces in India, there is a hue and cry from the people for a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) probe. From corruption to murder, CBI is the go to agency to investigate for the people of India. The latest is the suspected suicide of popular Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. But why is it always the CBI? Above: CBI team leaves Bandra police station amid their ongoing probe in late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput case, in Mumbai, on Aug 21, 2020.

IS CBI THE ONLY AGENCY? No, there are multiple investigative organisations in India. But most of them are tasked with a specific investigative duty, like probing financial irregularities or crime. Also, each state in India has their own crime investigation units under the police force. | Above: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in New Delhi.

THE BEGINNING: Started in 1941 as Special Police Establishment to probe corruption during World War II in India, the transformation of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into one of the most sought after investigative agencies in India is worth taking a look at. Let CBI investigate is a common refrain across India whenever any case - murder, bribery or suicide - crops up in India.

CURRENT NAME AND ROLE: In 1963, the agency acquired its current familiar name Central Bureau of Investigation. Since then, its ambit has been expanded across India. From 1965 onwards, CBI started looking into conventional crimes such as murders, kidnapping, terrorist crimes, apart from economic offences.

FOUNDER DIRECTOR: D.P. Kohli (pictured) was the founder director of the current CBI. Kohli, a visionary who saw the potential of growing a national investigative agency, held office from 1963 to 1968. Kohli's memorable words: " The motto of the CBI - Industry, Impartiality and Integrity: these must always guide your work. Loyalty to duty must come first, everywhere, at all times and in all circumstances."

WIDENING ROLE: Over the years, the role of CBI expanded rapidly along with its reputation of solving cases fast and impartially. Even the Supreme Court of India (pictured) and various High Courts started entrusting cases for investigation to the CBI on petitions filed by aggrieved parties.

POLITICS AND PRESSURE: As years passed by, power politics could have been the reason, dark clouds started to cast shadows over the functioning of CBI. Calling the CBI a mythical beast, former judge of the Supreme Court of India, Justice J. Chelameshwar (pictured) opined that there was no use in transferring cases to CBI, unless it acted on them independently. In 2013, the Supreme Court described CBI as a "caged parrot" that answers to "its master's voice".

SENSATIONAL CASES HANDLED BY CBI: In the infamous Sterling Biotech scam, where two men named Chetan Sandesara and his brother Nitin Sandesara (pictured), the directors of Vadodara-based Sterling Biotech had allegedly defrauded half a dozen banks of Rs 5,700 crore, the CBI had found a few diaries which contained details of payments made by Sterling Biotech to people and firms in January and June 2011.

VIJAY MALLYA CASE: One of the most talked-about cases that the CBI had to deal with was the Indian businessman and liquor baron Vijay Mallya's (pictured) bank fraud case. Mallya escaped from India in 2016 for the UK, after allegedly defrauding several banks of close to Rs 9,000 crore.

CHOPPER SCAM: Another sensitised case handled by the CBI is the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland Chopper scam, where allegations of bribes being paid to ‘middlemen’ and even politicians surfaced, after India agreed to buy 12 AgustaWestland helicopters built by the Italian defence manufacturing giant Finmeccanica.

LAND GRAB SCAM: CBI probed the Robert Vadra (pictured)-DLF Land Grab scam. Vadra is the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, supremo of Indian political party Congress. Vadra’s company Sky Light Hospitality apparently bought a 3.5-acre plot in Shikohpur village near Manesar and reportedly sold it to DLF for Rs 58 crore. When the irregularities in this was later questioned, the Congress government gave a clean chit to Vadra.

FAILURES: The 2G spectrum cases (irregularities in the allocation of Second Generation spectrum licenses for mobile communication and limited data transmission), which had rocked the Manmohan Singh-led UPA-II government, led to filing of charge sheets by the CBI in four different matters along with documents running into lakhs of pages but the agency could not secure even a single conviction. | Above: Former telecom minister A. Raja.

BOFORS CASE: The CBI’s probe in the politically sensitive Bofors payoff case was also unable to withstand judicial scrutiny with the Delhi High Court on May 31, 2005 quashing all the charges against the Hinduja brothers — Srichand (pictured), Gopichand and Prakashchand — and the Bofors company.

END RESULT: Success of CBI seems to have been etched more in the collective memories of Indian population, if we are to go by the demand for CBI probes. Even before the initial investigation is over by the crime branch or the economic offences department, people call for a CBI probe. And that will continue for a while... | Above: Current director of CBI Rishi Kumar Shukla.