CBI facing staff crunch at crucial positions

NEW DELHI: More than one-third crucial posts of investigating and supervisory officers are lying vacant in CBI, which is burdened with over a thousand cases, including major scams related to chit funds, coal block allocation and non-performing assets in banks.

According to the latest data, 45 positions of Superintendents of Police (SP) who are mostly investigating officers, out of a sanctioned strength of 119, are vacant in the premier probe agency.

Similarly, at the supervisory DIG level, there are 17 vacancies as against the sanctioned strength of 43.

At the Additional SP level, one-third positions, or 30 out of a sanctioned strength of 91, are vacant.

Besides, the agency is facing shortage of public prosecutors to argue its cases before special courts, with only 73 lawyers as against a sanctioned strength of 210.

The total shortage of legal officers at various levels is around 46 per cent with only 197 such officers available to the agency as against the sanctioned strength of 370.

According to government data, around 1,126 cases were in different stages of investigation by CBI till last year.

The agency received 908 cases from state governments and courts in the past three years. It had registered 978 cases till November 30, 2015.