Central vigilance commission

It was set up by the Government of India in February, 1964 on the recommendations of the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, headed by K. Santhanam Committee, to advise and guide Central Government agencies in the field of vigilance. Nittoor Srinivasa Rau, was selected as the first Chief Vigilance Commissioner of India.

The Annual Report of the CVC not only gives the details of the work done by it but also brings out the system failure which leads to corruption in various departments/organisations, system improvements, various preventive measures and cases in which the commission's advises were ignored etc.

The commission shall consist of

A Central Vigilance Commissioner - Chairperson

Not more than two Vigilance Commissioners - Members

The current Central Vigilance Commissioner is K.V. Chowdary, and among the two Vigilance Commissioners, one is Rajiv and the other is T.M. Bhasin

Appointment

The Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Vigilance Commissioners are appointed by the President after obtaining the recommendation of a Committee consisting of:

The Prime Minister of India (Chairperson)

The Minister of Home Affairs

The Leader of the second largest party in the Lok Sabha or majority group leader in parliament

Removal

The Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner can be removed from his office only by order of the President on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity after the Supreme Court, on a reference made to it by the President, has, on inquiry, reported that the Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner, as the case may be, ought to be removed.

The President may suspend from office, and if deem necessary prohibit also from attending the office during inquiry, the Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner in respect of whom a reference has been made to the Supreme Court until the President has passed orders on receipt of the report of the Supreme Court on such reference.

The President may, by order, remove from office the Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner if the Central Vigilance Commissioner or such Vigilance Commissioner, as the case may be:

• If he is adjudged an insolvent; or
• If he has been convicted of an offence which, in the opinion of the Central Government, involves moral turpitude; or
• If he engages during his term of office in any paid employment outside the duties of his office; or
• If he is, in the opinion of the President, unfit to continue in office by reason of infirmity of mind or body; or
• If he has acquired such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially his functions as a Central Vigilance Commissioner or a Vigilance Commissioner.

Role of commission

The CVC is not an investigating agency. The only investigation carried out by the CVC is that of examining Civil Works of the Government which is done through the Chief Technical Officer. Corruption investigations against government officials can proceed only after the government permits them. The CVC publishes a list of cases where permissions are pending, some of which may be more than a year old.

The Ordinance of 1998 conferred statutory status to the CVC and the powers to exercise superintendence over functioning of the Delhi Special Police Establishment, and also to review the progress of the investigations pertaining to alleged offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 conducted by them.

In 1998 the Government introduced the CVC Bill in the Lok Sabha in order to replace the Ordinance, though it was not successful. The Bill was re-introduced in 1999 and remained with the Parliament till September 2003, when it became an Act after being duly passed in both the Houses of Parliament. The CVC has also been publishing a list of corrupt government officials against which it has recommended punitive action.

Organisation

The CVC is headed by a Central Vigilance Commissioner who is assisted by two Vigilance Commissioners. The Central Vigilance Commission has its own Secretariat, Chief Technical Examiners' Wing (CTE) and a wing of Commissioners for Departmental Inquiries (CDI). As on 21 March 2012, CVC has a staff strength of 257 against sanctioned strength of 299 (including the post of CVC and 2 VCs)

Secretariat

The Secretariat consists of a Secretary of the rank of Additional Secretary to the Govt of India, one officer of the rank of Joint Secretary to the Govt of India, ten officers of the rank of Director/Deputy Secretary, four Under Secretaries and office staff.

Chief Technical Examiners' Wing (CTE)

The Chief Technical Examiner's Organisation constitutes the technical wing of the Central Vigilance Commission and has two Engineers of the rank of Chief Engineers (designated as Chief Technical Examiners) with supporting engineering staff. Following are the main functions of this organisation:

• Technical audit of construction works of Governmental organisations from a vigilance angle
• Investigating specific cases of complaints relating to construction works
• Assisting the CBI in their investigations involving technical matters and for evaluation of properties in Delhi and
• Assisting the Commission and Chief Vigilance Officers in vigilance cases involving technical matters.

Commissioners for Departmental Inquiries (CDI)

There are fourteen posts of Commissioners for Departmental Inquiries (CDI) in the Commission, 11 in the rank of Director and 03 in the rank of Deputy Secretary. The CDIs function as Inquiry Officers to conduct inquiries in departmental proceedings initiated against public servants.

The Directorate General of Vigilance

The Directorate General of Vigilance, Income Tax is the apex body under the Central Board of Direct Taxes for the vigilance matters. The Directorate General interfaces with the Central Vigilance Commission, the Central Bureau of Investigation, field formations of CBDT who are also having their Vigilance wings and others in all the matters relating to Vigilance, preliminary investigation of complaints, obtaining CVC/CVO’s first stage advice, wherever required, assistance to Ministry in issuance of charge sheets, monitoring the charge sheet issued by the Disciplinary authorities in the field, monitoring of progress in inquiry proceedings, processing of enquiry reports, obtaining CVC/CVO’s second stage advice, wherever required and communication thereof to Disciplinary authorities and monitoring compliance/implementation of the advice.

Limitations of CVC

• CVC is only an advisory body. Central Government Departments are free to either accept or reject CVC's advice in corruption cases.
• CVC does not have adequate resources compared with number of complaints that it receives. It is a very small set up with sanctioned staff strength of 299. Whereas, it is supposed to check corruption in more than 1500 central government
• departments and ministries.
• CVC cannot direct CBI to initiate inquiries against any officer of the level of Joint Secretary and above on its own. Such a permission has to be obtained from the concerned department.
• CVC does not have powers to register criminal case. It deals only with vigilance or
• disciplinary cases.
• CVC has supervisory powers over CBI. However, CVC does not have the power to call for any file from CBI or to direct CBI to investigate any case in a particular manner. CBI is under administrative control of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). Which means that, the powers to appoint, transfer, suspend CBI officers lie with DoPT.
• Appointments to CVC are indirectly under the control of Govt of India, though the leader of the Opposition (in Lok Sabha) is a member of the Committee to select CVC and VCs. But the Committee considers candidates put up before it. These candidates are decided by the Government. As a result, although CVC is relatively independent in its functioning, it has neither resources nor powers to inquire and take action on complaints of corruption that may act as an effective deterrence against corruption.