Joint Secretaries and above still insulated from CBI investigation

By Vijay Kumar

Remember the famous Vineet Narain case, where the Supreme Court struck down the directive that CBI should get permission from the Government before investigating officers of and above the rank of Joint Secretaries? The Government (read Joint Secretaries and above) brought back this provision in the Act, which is again challenged in the Supreme Court which has referred it to a larger bench. As of now CBI has to still wait for that permission before proceeding against senior officers. We are carrying today the Supreme Court judgement as well as highlights from Vineet Narain case.

There was an interesting case of a CBI Superintendent who planted a story in the papers that a particular Customs and Excise Commissioner is managing to get the sanction to prosecute him delayed. A few days after this story appeared in the press, the CBI Superintendent was arrested in a corruption case.