New Delhi: Parliament has passed a Bill to extend the tenure of director of the Central Bureau of Investigation to a maximum of five years from the present two years.
The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed by Rajya Sabha with a voice vote on Tuesday. The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill on December 9, 2021.
Replying to a discussion on the Bill, Minister of Personnel Jitendra Singh observed that methodologies of crime have undergone a change and new technologies have come in.
“…and the relevance of head of the crime or investigation agency is that many-a-times quite a lot of information is privy only to him in person. So if in the middle of an important case if you change the head of the agency, others may not be able to carry it forward in same tone …,” Singh said.
The Bill seeks to extend the tenure of director of the Central Bureau of Investigation to a maximum of five years from the present two years.
Bill to extend ED chief’s tenure passed
The Parliament has also passed a bill to extend the tenure of director of Enforcement Directorate to a maximum of five years.
The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021, passed in Lok Sabha on December 9, was moved by Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension Jitendra Singh in the Upper House and cleared by voice vote on Tuesday.
Prior to the bill being taken up, most of the opposition members had walked out of the House to protest the suspension of their 12 members.
The Bill seeks to extend the tenure of the director of the Enforcement Directorate from two years to five years.
While introducing the Bill, Singh said the amendments are in the interest of national security and for the stability of the financial structure.
“Enforcement director has a very crucial role even in money laundering cases, and is possibly the only agency of its kind available in India. But for India, most of the other countries have a much longer term. And here also, the term is not being made indefinite…,” he said.
The clause on tenure which says “not less than two years” is just being amended to “‘go up to five years” with a one-year extension on each occasion, he added.
Also read: ‘Hanging carrots before donkeys’ — how parties opposed bills increasing tenure of CBI, ED chiefs