CVC, CBI’s anti-graft wing be under Lokpal: Parl panel

Citing overlapping of functions, a Parliamentary Committee on Monday recommended integrating Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to work directly under Lokpal.

It also suggested the inclusion of  a leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha. If this recommendation is accepted by Parliament, it will pave way for Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge to be part of the Lokpal selection committee headed by the Prime Minister.

“The Committee is of the view that institutions of CVC and CBI (so far as its anti-corruption functions are concerned), be fully integrated with the Lokpal and the institution of the anti-corruption watchdog may be architecturally created vertically with the Lokpal at the apex level and CVC and CBI (anti-corruption wing) working directly under it.

“The functions of the Lokpal and the CVC be clearly specified and overlap between the functions and powers of CVC and Lokpal be addressed. The Lokpal in turn should utilise these organisations for conduct of inquiry, investigation and prosecution,” the panel said in its report submitted to both the Houses of Parliament.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, headed by Congress MP EM Sudarsana Natchiappan, felt that public disclosure of assets and liabilities of public servants, including employees and politicians, may not be necessary. It recommended review of the existing rules, which reflect “colonial mindset of doubt and mistrust”, on declaration of assets and liabilities by a government servant as they are “at present being used more to harass government servants than as a safeguard against corruption”. Suggesting uniformity in provisions for such declarations, the panel recommended “use of digital surveillance software to detect any disproportionate growth in assets and liabilities of a public servant beyond his known sources of income”.