CBI’s uneasy history

Subject : Governance

Concept :

About Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

The CBI is the premier investigating agency of India.
Ministry: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
Role: It was originally set up to investigate bribery and governmental corruption. In 1965, it received expanded jurisdiction to investigate breaches of central laws enforceable by the Government of India, multi-state organised crime, multi-agency or international cases.
CBI is exempted from the provisions of the Right to Information Act.
CBI is India’s officially designated single point of contact for liaison with the Interpol.
The CBI headquarter: New Delhi.

About Enforcement Directorate (ED)

It is a law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India.
Ministry: Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance
The prime objective is the enforcement of two key Acts:
- The Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 (FEMA)
- The Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA)
Headquarters: New Delhi
Five regional offices: Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Delhi headed by Special Directors of Enforcement.

CBI vs ED:

Despite the common factors, there are major differences in terms of sole jurisdiction between the ED and the CBI.
The CBI primarily possesses the responsibility to investigate cases where corruption is outlined. Contrarily, the ED is mostly allocated with tasks like investigation operations against money laundering.
Further, the ED possesses the sole jurisdiction of the cases that are legally allocated to them whereas the CBI has to share their legal space with other concerning bodies while investigating any corruption cases.