New Delhi: The Supreme Court yesterday passed a slew of directions for the government to expeditiously take steps for overcoming acute shortage of manpower in CBI which is coming its way in its probe into various scams like multi-crore rupee Saradha chit fund spread over many states.
A bench comprising justices TS Thakur and C Nagappan also observed that absence of a comprehensive review of cadre strength ever since CBI was set up was somewhat surprising to say the least.
Referring to the averments and submissions made during the hearing, the bench said it showed that CBI is itself crying for a comprehensive revision of cadre strength. “We are at a loss to understand why such a revision has not been carried out so far and why should it be left to court to direct a revision which in its very nature is a governmental function in the performance of which there ought to be no deficit,” it said.
However, in the directions the bench said, “The central government shall as expeditiously as possible but not later than two months from today take steps for a comprehensive revision of the cadre strength of the CBI established under the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946.”
It said that the revision of cadre strength, when ordered, shall be completed within a period of four months from the date government issues the necessary directions. Further, the bench stated, “Pending comprehensive revision of the cadre strength as per above, the central government shall take immediate steps at the appropriate level to fill up the available vacancies within the existing cadre.”
