The Central Vigilance Commission was set up in 1964 on the recommendation of Santanam Committee.
The CVC was a one man Commission for about three and a half decades for
exercising general superintendence over vigilance administration in the
Government. Justice Nottoor Srinivasa |Rau became the first Central Vigilance Commissioner with effect from 19thFebruary, 1964. The Supreme Court of India , in criminal writ petitions nos.340-343/1993 (Vineet Narain and others Vs.Unionof India and others) popularly known as Jain Hawala case,
had directed on 18.12.1997 that statutory status should be conferred
upon the Central Vigilance Commission. It came on the statute book as
the CENTRAL VIGILANCE COMMISSION ACT, 2003 (45 OF 2003).
The Central Vigilance Commission Act,2003 provides
for constitution of Central Vigilance Commission to inquire or to cause
inquiries to be conducted into offences alleged to have been committed
under the Prevention of Corruption Act,1988 by certain categories of
public servants . The Act also empowers the Commission to exercise
superintendence over the functioning of the Delhi Special Police
Establishment (DSPE) now called Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI). The Commission is also empowered to review the progress of
investigations conducted by the CBI and the progress of applications
pending with the competent authorities for grant of sanction for
prosecution for offences alleged to have been committed under the
Prevention of Corruption Act,1988. The Commission also exercises
superintendence over the vigilance administration of the various
organizations under the Central Government.
The Commission’s jurisdiction to cause inquiry/investigation into alleged offences of corruption suo-moto extends
only to the upper echelons of public servants viz. members of All India
Services serving in connection with the affairs of the Union, Group ‘A’level officers
of the Central Government and such level of officers in the
corporations, Government companies, societies and other local
authorities of the Central Government.
The
emphasis of the Commission has been to have in place effective
preventive measures to fight corruption and also to increase
transparency and accountability in the functioning of the
Government. In tune with the emphasis on good governance, the
Commission closely looks at the prevailing systems and procedures of the
Government departments and its organizations and recommends system
strengthening and improvements. The Commission has also been
continuously emphasizing on Leveraging technology by adopting
e-procurement, e-payment, reverse auction etc. for reducing scope for
corruption and improving transparency, equity and competitiveness in
public procurement.
The
Commission has been engaging with various international anti-corruption
agencies/organizations, as a measure of international
co-operation. Creating a Knowledge Management System for international
Association of Anti –Corruption Authorities (IAACA) has been one of the
recent collaborative initiatives.
Source:-PIB
