Mangalore, February 19: If someone in a Central government organisation demands bribe one need not go all the way to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Bangalore. They can approach the nearest Lokayukta police station with a complaint.
This is the new arrangement the CBI has evolved to effectively deal with complaints of demand for bribe made against employees of Central government agencies.
In a notification issued a month ago, the CBI Director has sought the help of anti-corruption agencies in the States to take action against those seeking bribe.
As per the request, the Lokayukta police have intimated the CBI about their readiness to cooperate.
“This step could have been taken earlier. Such a move will help in effectively dealing with complaints of corruption at the grass roots levels,” Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde said. All these days, the Lokayukta police were exchanging information with the CBI, he said.
Additional Director-General of Police (Lokayukta) Rupak Kumar Dutta said that anti-corruption agencies in States were empowered to deal with all cases of graft under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
While the CBI Manual restricted the Central agency to complaints against Central government employees, the State anti-corruption agencies dealt with those against the State government employees.
Mr. Dutta said the Lokayukta police were generally not dealing with complaints against Central government employees and were asking complainants to approach the CBI unit in Bangalore.
While the complainants were finding it difficult to go all the way to Bangalore, the ACB unit, with its limited staff, was also finding it hard to take effective action. “There have been instances where the CBI has found that there is no substance in the complaint,” he said.
Saving time
The new arrangement, Mr. Dutta said, would save time — both for the complainant and the CBI.
“We will deal with complaints in our State,” Mr. Dutta said.
After receipt of the complaint, the Lokayukta police will work towards trapping the official concerned and then hand over further investigation to the CBI. Mr. Dutta said instructions had been sent to all Lokayukta police units in this regard.
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