CBI not up to standards of judicial scrutiny: CJI

New Delhi: Maintaining that in a number of high-profile and politically sensitive cases, the CBI — the country’s premier investigative agency — has not been able to meet the standards of the judicial scrutiny, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Tuesday advocated for its statutory status through legislation equivalent to that provided to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

While delivering D.P. Kohli memorial lecture organised by the CBI here, the Chief Justice said, “Efforts must be made to delink crucial aspects of the agency from the overall administrative control of the government. Why is that whenever there are no political overtones to the case, the CBI does a good job. In a number of high-profile and politically sensitive cases, the agency has not been able to meet the standards of judicial scrutiny”. Such instances reflect systemic issues and indicate a deep mismatch between institutional aspirations, organisational design, working culture, and governing politics, said Mr Gogoi. The CBI should be given statutory status through legislation equivalent to that provided to the CAG, he said. D.P. Kohli was the founder director of the CBI.

Justice Gogoi recalled that till recently a CBI probe was considered as the last word in impartial investigation. “Given the intense scrutiny that working of the CBI is being subjected to, public perception of the agency must be of the highest degree. Not long ago, an investigation from CBI was all that was asked for by those seeking to secure justice. Such was the trust people reposed on this institution. Any gap between public perception and the quality of institutional performance, would adversely impact the governance of the nation, which we can ill afford,” he said.