India’s Top Probe Agencies Must Focus on Cases Pertaining to National Security: CJI DY Chandrachud

New Delhi: India's top probe agencies must only focus on cases pertaining to national security and economic offences against the nation, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said on Monday, even as he stressed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is increasingly being asked to investigate a diverse array of criminal cases apart from its original role of anti corruption, Bar & Bench reported. “I think we have spread out our premier investigative agencies too thin. They must only focus on those crimes that concern national security, and crimes of economic offences against the nation", Bar & Bench quoted the CJI as saying.

He was delivering the 20th DP Kohli Memorial Lecture on the topic: ‘Adopting Technology to Advance Criminal Justice’, organised by the CBI at Bharat Mandapam in the national capital on the occasion of Raising Day of the Investigation Agency. 

Beginning his address by showering praise on Dharamnath Prasad Kohli, the first CBI Director, CJI Chandrachud reportedly said, “Mr Kohli was handpicked to curb the tendency of corruption among public officials, and believed that the CBI could be transformed to be the premier investigating agency, and laid its foundation in 1963. That we remember him over five decades since he handed over the reins speaks volumes about his dedication and professionalism.”

Stressing that courts have through various judgments strengthened the institution, and that legal profession “should be happy about it [CBI's now expanded purview]” because it has given members of the Bar more income earning opportunities, CJI Chandrachud reportedly said, “[The] CBI was asked to probe the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. The Jain Hawala case reshaped CBI's institutional framework and the overhaul included guaranteed tenures of director, and autonomy and a prosecution wing”. 

He further underlined how the CBI is now facing “a complex challenge”, and reportedly said that this places “a huge responsibility” on the agency “to live up to its motto”.

Noting that the era of digital transformation has led us to a critical juncture, Justice Chandrachud, according to Bar & Bench, emphasised on how the “intersection of law and technology can go a long way in addressing the changing landscape of crime”.

“Technology is changing the way we conceptualise crime and criminal at investigation stage”, the CJI reportedly said, adding that the country must rethink and reconsider its investigative framework so as to meet the challenges posed by new criminal networks. 

To pay homage to its Director Dharamnath Prasad Kohli, the CBI has been organising the DP Kohli Memorial Lecture since the year 2000, as a sign of respect to its late founder.

DP Kohli, who was born in 1907 in Uttar Pradesh, had joined the Police Service in 1931. He headed the Delhi Special Police Establishment DSPE in 1955 to curb and control the growing tentacles of corruption in public services. Upon the establishment of the CBI on 1 April 1963, he became its founder Director and continued as its Director from 1963 till 1968.

According to the CBI, the DP Kohli Memorial Lecture serves as a tribute to Kohli’s vision and legacy in establishing the CBI as a premier investigating and prosecuting agency, and underscores the agency’s commitment to upholding integrity, accountability, and excellence in its operations.