Govt. committed to "zero tolerance" towards corruption: Narayanasamy

Union Minister of State for Personnel V. Narayanasamy on Thursday said the Central Government is determined to deal with issues of corruption with a firm hand, as its policy is zero tolerance towards corruption.

Addressing the valedictory session of three-day international conference on evolving common strategies to combat corruption and crime (XXth Conference of CBI and State Anti-Corruption Bureaux- 2013) today, Narayanasamy said the government has ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and are in the midst of the process of making our anti-corruption laws more stringent and in conformity with best international practices.

He further said that, while the science of investigation has been deliberated in the coverage of this conference, there may be a need to deliberate upon the softer/sociological aspects of handling an investigation and the information collected during the investigation.

Narayanasamy said that it has been very adequately made out that the CBI should acquire expertise by inducting experts in domain knowledge concerning various streams of their investigations.

To facilitate this, he said that the recruitment rules of CBI have been amended recently by the government to have 10 percent of deputationist at Joint Director level and 20 percent at DIG level from among other than police service, i.e., Indian Revenue Service, Indian Economic Service, Serious Fraud Investigation Office, Enforcement Directorate, Indian Telecom Service, Indian Railway Accounts Service, Narcotics Control Bureau, etc.

The Minister while emphasising the need for administrative independence and empowerment of the CBI also stated that excessive delegation impacting on the checks and balance in the system and overall control of the executive should not be overlooked.

The Minister further noted that in the Golden Jubilee year of the CBI, the forum of Anti Corruption Bureau has broadened itself into an international conference with the participation of international law enforcement practitioners, analysts, legal luminaries and domain area experts.

He said the presence of delegates from a large number of State Anti-corruption bureaux and foreign law enforcement organizations would have provided fresh perspective to the deliberations. He also said that sharing the national and international practices and experiences would help benefit each other to reform positioned in the national contexts without reinventing the entire wheel.

Narayanasamy said that partnership of CBI with the State Anti-Corruption Bureaux in the States in this Conference would be mutually beneficial and help in building capacities to measure up to the emerging challenges. He thanked the overseas participants for their deliberations in the Conference and for making meaningful contributions in the Conference.

CBI Director Ranjit Sinha in his valedictory speech spoke of the need for upgrading the skills and knowledge of law enforcement agencies.

He also thanked the Prime Minister for his support for the proposed CBI Centre of Excellence and as suggested by him would look for ways and means to strengthen the State Criminal Investigation Departments (CIDs) and Economic Offences Wings.

Ranjit Sinha also touched on the subject of cyber judicial architecture in India and the world that can provide real-time adjudication for delivery of justice.

On the question of defining the limits of criminal investigation, he said that this issue should be seen in the context of the changing reality of our country and that CBI will positively contribute to find an equilibrium that is in consonance with the requirements of justice.