CBI to change standard operating procedures in conformity with amendments in laws

After nearly 14 years, the CBI is updating its standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the Crime Manual to bring them in conformity with the changes in the Prevention of Corruption Act, Criminal Procedure Code and Supreme Court orders, a top agency official said on Wednesday.

A team under Additional Director Praveen Sinha has been working on the changes in the manual for 10 months and may finalise it soon, officials said.

The Crime Manual of the CBI is a collection of standard operating procedures for its officials.

"The manual was last updated in 2005 since then there have been changes in the Prevention of Corruption Act, Criminal Procedure Code besides directives from the Supreme Court. The cyber crime has also become prevalent since then which requires completely new sets of procedures," a CBI spokesperson said.

Another top official said that international dimensions in the white collar crimes are becoming more pronounced and the agency is also receiving lot more requests from the global agencies seeking cooperation which needs to be incorporated in the manual.

The manual was last updated in 2005 when changes brought about by the Vineet Narain Judgement of the Supreme Court in 1997, Information Technology Act, 2000, Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003, Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1994, and a host of other laws were incorporated into the manual.

In 2005, the CBI Academy, the Directorate of Prosecution, the Command Centre and the Regional Training Centres were added in the manual under the then Director U S Mishra.