Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and Narcotics Control Bureau are Law Enforcement, Investigative Agencies, and Intelligence working under different Ministries. Are their functions similar? Whether they work simultaneously for investigation of the cases? These are some of the prime questions that strike in our minds.
NCB is the central agency, which investigates all the drug-related cases headquartered in New Delhi and comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs. CBI is the investigating agency formed in 1941 with a prime focus on the investigation related to corruption and headquartered in New Delhi. Further, it gets investigates things like crime, breaches, and also international cases. It happens to be under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for fighting economic crimes in India. It comes under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
Central Bureau of Investigation: Central Agency
Central Bureau of Investigation is India’s top-notch agency that investigates very serious cases from all over India. This organization happens to be under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, which is headed by a Cabinet Minister who directly reports to the Prime Minister. Presently, M.Nageshwar Rao is the interim director of the CBI. The CBI is located in CGO Complex, near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
CBI was found in the year 1941 by the Government of India as the Special Police Establishment. During that time, its prime duties were to investigate corruption and bribery transactions that happened during World War II in the War and Supply Department of India. The organization was founded by D. P. Kohli, who acted as the director of CBI the office from April 1st, 1963 to May 31st, 1968.
CBI also has an Anti-Corruption Division that has flourishingly handled cases against Chief Ministers, Ministers, Government Secretaries, CMDs of Banks, Financial Institutions, and so on. Also, the CBI has been criticized for being a "caged parrot speaking in its master's voice", by the Supreme Court of India. This statement has been made due to its excessive political intervention irrespective of which the party governing at the Centre.
Rishi Kumar Shukla is the present director of the CBI. The Director of this Investigation Agency is appointed, for not less than a period of 2 years, by the Appointment Committee on the recommendation of the Selection Committee as mentioned in Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946 amended through the Lokpal & Lokayukta Act 2013 and CVC Act, 2003 respectively.
The appointment committee consists of:
- Prime Minister as the Chairperson.
- Leader of Opposition of Lok Sabha or the Leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, if the former is not present because of the lack of necessary strength as the member.
- Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court Judge as recommended by the Chief Justice as the member.
When making recommendations, the committee recognizes the views of the outgoing director. The Selection Committee thus constituted under Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 nominates a particular number of names to the said Appointment Committee, one among whom the Appointment Committee appoints as the CBI director. The Selection Committee consists of the Central Vigilance Commissioner as the Chairperson, Vigilance Commissioners, Secretary to the GOI In-charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Secretary, Co-ordination, and Public Grievances and Cabinet Secretariat as the members.
Directorate of Enforcement- Economic Intelligence Agency
In recent instances, the CBI questioned actor Rhea Chakraborty and she has been taken to judicial custody under NDPS Act investigated by NCB, the CBI also assisted with the famous Unnao Rape Case in which a UP MLA was convicted, the INX Media case, Bhanwari Devi murder case, Aarushi Talwar Murder case and many more. The CBI and ED usually work together for the investigation of crimes and money laundering cases respectively. Therefore, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the prime investigative police agency in India whereas the ED's (Enforcement Directorate) official website deliberates other objectives that are primarily linked to checking money laundering in India.
Enforcement Directorate is a law enforcement agency and an economic intelligence agency responsible for combating economic crimes and enforcement of economic laws. The Directorate of Enforcement headquartered at New Delhi is headed by the Director of Enforcement and there are five Regional offices located at Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata, and Delhi headed by Special Directors of Enforcement. The Zonal Offices of the Directorate are located at Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Panaji, Jaipur, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jalandhar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, and Srinagar. These are headed by a Joint Director. Sh. Rakesh Asthana is the current Director-General of NCB.
The Directorate has Sub-Zonal Offices at Bhubaneshwar, Kozhikode, Indore, Madurai, Nagpur, Allahabad, Raipur, Dehradun, Ranchi, Surat, Shimla, Vishakhapatnam, and Jammu which are headed by a Deputy Director. Some of the leading cases handled by the ED are the Sushant Singh Rajput Death case, INX Media Scam Case, YES Bank Case, 2G Case, Mumbai Airport Development Scam case, and many more.
Narcotics Control Bureau- Anti- Drug Trafficking
NCB or Narcotics Control Bureau is an Indian Federal Law Enforcement that was established in 1986 whose agenda is to combat drug trafficking and the illegal use or abuse of substances under the Narcotics Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act. It is aimed at implementing the NDPS Act. The Director-General of NCB is an officer of the Indian Police Service or the Indian Revenue Service. It is engaged in team-work with the Customs and Central Excise/GST, State Police Department, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), and other Indian intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
- The motto of NCB: Intelligence, Enforcement, and Coordination.
- The mission of NCB: Prevent & combat abuse and use of illicit drugs.
- The vision of NCB: Endeavor for a drug-free society.
Conclusion
NCB is the central agency that helps in combatting Drug Trafficking and abuse in India whereas CBI is the investigating agency investigating cases on corruption and crime & Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is a law enforcement agency responsible for eliminating the illicit use of drugs and narcotics. All these agencies work under distinct goals and objectives but altogether engaged in law enforcement.