Is CBI Unconstitutional Organization?

Abstract

Central Bureau of Investigation is a reputed investigating agency which has recorded successes in investigating the scandals involving the corruption of political office holders. Though it was not a national investigating agency, the Supreme Court, Centre and some state governments accorded it such status and invoked the agency to investigate the government involved bribery. Of late, the centre was accused of using the CBI to intimidate the political opponents and state governments which do not toe their line. When CBI officers were recently arrested by West Bengal state police when formers wanted to probe the state police’s role in screening the corrupt in the state, the independence of the bureau became subject matter of discussion. Whether CBI has constitutional basis? Can it exercise superior power over and above the sovereign power of the state governments? This article is an attempt to answer this question.