Deputy
Superintendent Sethurama Iyer CBI is a brilliant Investigative officer of the
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Indian equivalent of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. Iyer's popularity is attributed to the fact that he
uses his brain rather than brawn to solve cases.
During the period of World
War II, a Special Police Establishment (SPE) was constituted in 1941 in the
Department of War of the British India to enquire into allegations of bribery
and corruption in the war related procurements. Later on it was formalized as
an agency of the Government of India to investigate into allegations of
corruption in various wings of the Government of India. In 1963, the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) was established by the Government of India with a view to investigate
serious crimes related to Defence of India, corruption in high places, serious
fraud, cheating and embezzlement and social crime, particularly of hoarding,
black-marketing and profiteering in essential commodities, having all-India and
inter-state ramifications. CBI derives its legal powers to investigate crime
from the DSPE Act, 1946.
Two senior officials of
customs department -- a Deputy Commissioner and a Superintendent -- have been
arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in two different corruption
cases, said officials. In the first
case, Vikash Kumar, the Deputy Commissioner of Customs and Jyoti Biswas, an
exporter have been arrested, according to CBI, “on the allegations that the
arrested accused in connivance with other accused had forged export related
documents, used those documents as genuine and obtained huge amount of Duty
Drawback against false export of Gaskets to Bangladesh in 2014 in the name of
fictitious firms.” In the second case, Sandeep Kumar Dikshit, Superintendent of
Customs along with another accused Sudhir Jha, have been arrested by the
federal probe agency, “on the allegations of exporting and attempting to export
a total 240 metric tons of Red Sanders, a prohibited item, worth Rs 100 crore
through N.S. Dock, Kolkata Port in 2016. The case was registered in December
2017.” All the arrested accused will be produced on Tuesday before the
Competent Court in Kolkata.
The CBI is
divided into three categories when it comes to investigation. The first is the
Anti-Corruption Division that investigates cases against public servants under
the control of the central government, public servants in public sector
undertakings, also under the control of the central government, cases against
public servants working under state governments, which have been entrusted to
the CBI by the state, and serious departmental irregularities committed by the
above mentioned. The Economic Offences Division investigates financial crimes,
bank frauds, money laundering, illegal money market operations, graft in PSUs
and banks. The Economic Offences Division investigates financial crimes, bank
frauds, money laundering, illegal money market operations, graft in PSUs and
banks.
The Maharashtra government was vary about the Special Crimes Division taking over the probe into the alleged TRP scam being investigated by the Mumbai Police. Republic TV is among the five channels under police scanner in the case. Since the CBI took over a similar case of manipulation of TRPs, registered by the Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday, the Maharashtra government feared the central agency would include in its purview the case probed by the Mumbai Police, and attempt to take over.
Following in the
footsteps of non-BJP-ruled states like West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra,
Kerala on Wednesday withdrew “general consent” given to the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) to investigate cases in the state. The
decision, which was finalised in a Cabinet meeting, means the central agency
will have to get consent from the ruling LDF government for every case it
registers in Kerala. However, the withdrawal of “general consent” will not have
a bearing on cases that CBI has already been investigating.
“We have decided to
withdraw the general consent given to the CBI, through the notifications under
the Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946,” the state
government said. “The Central agency would be entrusted with the investigation
of cases in necessary situations, only with the special permission of the state
government,” it added. Earlier this week, Kerala
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan slammed central investigating agencies, saying
they had exceeded their jurisdiction to “malign and destabilise” an elected
state government. In fact, for some time now, leading constituents of
the ruling LDF, CPI(M) and CPI, wanted the government to take steps to curb the
CBI taking up probes. Earlier, CPI(M)
state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the party wanted the government to
look into legal options to prevent “misuse” of CBI as a political weapon. “Even
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has stated against using CBI as a political weapon.
States have every right to decide on the probe agency in a state-level issue as
per the federal principles,” he had said.
The decision
comes at a time when CBI has registered an FIR in a case of alleged Foreign
Currency Regulations Act (FCRA) violation by Life Mission, a state government
entity. However, the Kerala High Court stayed the CBI investigation in October
following a plea by Life Mission. The CBI is governed by the
Delhi Special Police Establishment Act that makes consent of a state government
mandatory for conducting the investigation in that state. Since the CBI has
jurisdiction only over Central government departments and employees, it can
investigate a case involving state government employees or a violent crime in a
state only after the government concerned gives consent. General consent is
given by states so that the CBI can seamlessly conduct its investigation and
not seek the state government nod for every case — unlike the National
Investigation Agency (NIA), which has jurisdiction across the country.
In October, the Maharashtra
government under Uddhav Thackeray withdrew consent to the central agency. In
November 2018, the West Bengal government under TMC and the Andhra Pradesh
government, then under TDP, also did the same. The two states had alleged that
the agency was being used to target the Opposition. In Andhra, however, the
YSRCP government restored consent after coming to power last year. In July this
year, Congress-ruled Rajasthan withdrew consent to the central agency.
It smacks
politics would be an understatement – why should State Governments fear a free
and impartial analysis by a superior agency – the answer is too obvious !
Oru CBI Diary Kurippu was a 1988 Indian Malayalam-language mystery thriller film directed by K. Madhu, written by S. N. Swamy, and starring Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Jagathy Sreekumar, Mukesh, and Sukumaran. The film was really well taken and the Malayalam movie itself ran packed houses in Chennai especially in Saffire theatre. The lead character, CBI officer Sethurama Iyer is inspired by a police officer named Radha Vinod Raju, Jammu and Kashmir cadre IPS Officer who in 2009 was appointed as the first chief of India's National Investigation Agency. This film was the first in the series of the CBI investigative thrillers featuring Mammootty as Sethurama Iyer.
04.11.2020
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