New Delhi: To firmly deal with graft,
Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar on Sunday sought an
exclusive investigation bureau to probe major cases of
corruption as also autonomy in exercising its power without
government's intervention to nail corrupt babus.
Kumar expressed concern over paucity of manpower in the
Commission and enactment of 'False Claim Act' to punish the
guilty and recover the loss to the exchequer caused by
companies or contractors in executing public works.
"There is a need for creation of a dedicated
investigation wing as certain important cases are inquired
into directly by the Commission," he said.
"The CVC has been mandated by the Act to exercise
superintendence over the entire vigilance administration.
However, the Act requires the CVC to exercise this function
according to the directions issued by the government thus
limiting its independence," Kumar said.
For instance, he said, the CVC has limited say in the
selection of the Chief Vigilance Officers who serve as the arm
of the Commission in various organisations.
On the 2G issue, the chief of the anti-corruption
watchdog said the Commission's report on alleged
irregularities has been submitted to the CBI for further
probe.
"The CVC had conducted an inquiry into allegations of
corruption in the allocation of 2G spectrum and the report was
finalised in September, 2009 indicating several improprieties
committed in the process of allocation of 2G licenses and the
case was handed over to the CBI for further investigations,
which are now going on," Kumar said.
"We are not conducting any investigation into the
allocation of 3G," the CVC said.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, September 25, 2011, 14:47