The Union government’s December 20 order empowers 10 Central intelligence and investigating agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt “any information” generated, transmitted, received or stored in “any computer”. Here is a brief outline of these agencies and the tasks assigned to them.
Intelligence Bureau
The I.B. is India’s internal security agency. It works with other intelligence and law enforcement agencies and is responsible for mitigating threats from terrorism. It is also tasked with the collection and dissemination of intelligence. It ensures protection of infrastructure, especially aviation, and guards against secessionist activities. The I.B. also performs background checks for security clearances for diplomats, judges and other important individuals. Its exact functions, however, are not identified. The agency functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs, but the I.B. Director is part of the Strategic Policy Group and the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) of the National Security Council and enjoys the privilege of reporting directly to the Prime Minister.
The I.B. has fostered partnerships with crucial agencies abroad, in particular in the United Kingdom, the United States and Israel. There is no direct recruitment for personnel in the I.B.; its personnel are inducted from within law enforcement agencies across the country although the Indian Police Service (IPS) accounts for the bulk of the organisation.
The I.B. enjoys sweeping powers under the Indian Telegraph Act and the Indian Post Office Act to monitor all forms of communications.
The I.B. has its roots in the colonial era. It is believed that the I.B. was founded on December 23, 1887, after the first war of independence in 1857 (the sepoy mutiny as British accounts refer to it), as the “Central Special Branch” by the Secretary of State for India in London in order to detect potential unrest. Some others claim that the I.B. had its genesis in India’s first intelligence unit which Major General Sir Charles Metcalfe MacGregor established in 1885. There are other differing accounts, too.
Narcotics Control Bureau
The NCB, created in March 1986 under the terms of Section 4 (3) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, sets and enforces the government’s drug policy. Its primary role is to ensure the prevention of narcotics import and the export of indigenous narcotics such as high-quality cannabis grown widely in India. The NCB is also responsible for gathering intelligence, often with the help of satellite images, on unauthorised cultivation of opium and illegal manufacture of precursor chemicals and drugs. It is empowered to conduct raids and seize chemicals, drugs or equipment and make arrests. The NCB adheres to relevant international conventions, such as those adopted by the United Nations and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). It liaises with International agencies such as the U.N. Drugs Control Programme, the International Narcotics Control Board, Interpol, the Customs Cooperation Council and the Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices.
Enforcement Directorate
The E.D. is a financial investigation agency under the jurisdiction of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance. It enforces the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, a civil law empowering officers to conduct investigations into suspected contraventions of the Foreign Exchange Laws and Regulations, and impose penalties on those who are found to have violated these laws. The E.D. also enforces the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002, a criminal law by virtue of which officers may conduct investigations to trace assets acquired as the proceeds of crime. The E.D. can provisionally confiscate such assets and arrest and prosecute people involved in money laundering.
An enforcement unit was established in 1956 to deal with violations under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947. The unit was renamed the Enforcement Directorate in 1957.
Central Board of Direct Taxes
The CBDT, a body of the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance, is responsible for the administration of direct tax laws through the Income Tax Department. The CBDT provides essential inputs for the formulation of direct taxes. It came into existence when the Central Board of Revenue, in charge of administration of both direct and indirect taxes, was bifurcated on January 1, 1964, into the CBDT and the Central Board of Excise and Customs, which became the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
Directorate of Revenue intelligence
The DRI, established on December 4, 1957, is an anti-smuggling agency under the CBIC. Its responsibilities include detecting and curbing the smuggling of contraband, combating commercial fraud in international trade and thwarting attempts to evade customs duty.
Central Bureau of Investigation
During the Second World War, the Special Police Establishment (SPE) was set up under the War Department to probe cases of bribery and corruption. The SPE came into existence in 1941. In 1946, its mandate was expanded under the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act to investigate corruption in Central and State governments, as it was brought under the purview of the Home Department. In 1963, the Home Ministry renamed the Special Police Force the Central Bureau of Investigation, vesting in it the power to probe irregularities in all public sector bodies and cases of terrorism, murder, and so on. The CBI is not a statutory body. It continues to derive its power from the DSPE Act and functions as an attached office of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The agency is headed by a Director, who must be a member of the IPS. He is assisted by a Special Director or an Additional Director besides a team of Joint Directors, Deputy Inspectors General and Superintendents of Police.
National Investigation Agency
The NIA was created in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to act as a Central counterterrorism law enforcement agency. It is vested with the power to deal with terror-related crimes in any State. The agency was constituted on December 31, 2008, under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008. It deals with offences relating to the sovereignty and integrity of the country and also investigates cases of counterfeit currency, human trafficking and violations of the Atomic Energy Act, among other crimes. It maintains a database of terror financing and conducts investigations into terror financing aspects of regular cases. The NIA website says the agency has registered and investigated 183 cases to date with a conviction rate of 94.4 per cent.
Cabinet Secretariat -RAW
The Research and Analysis Wing, India’s premier intelligence agency, was established in 1968 to meet the need for increased external intelligence during the 1962 Sino-Indian War and the India-Pakistan War of 1965. It was established as a wing rather than an agency, so it may not be bound by the Right to Information Act. RAW is responsible for collecting military, economic, scientific and political intelligence through covert and overt operations, although its exact constitution, way of functioning, budgetary allocation and expenditure are not revealed. In 2000, the Federation of American Scientists reported that RAW had 8,000-10,000 agents. It estimated RAW’s budget to be $145 million at that time.
Directorate of Signal Intelligence
The Directorate of Signal Intelligence (in service areas of Jammu and Kashmir, the north-east and Assam) draws its personnel from the Army, the Navy and the Indian Air Force. The Directorate of Air Intelligence comes under the IAF and monitors the airspace. The Directorate of Naval Intelligence comes under the Navy and is tasked with collecting information of the sea area. It uses drones and radar for the purpose. The Directorate of Military Intelligence was formed in 1941 to handle the Army’s field intelligence. After Independence, it was vested with the power to investigate corruption in the Army.
Commissioner of Police, Delhi
The Delhi Police Commissioner is the head of the Delhi Police. The Police Commissioner’s portfolio was created on July 1, 1978, on the recommendations of the Delhi Police Commission, constituted in 1966 by the Government of India under the aegis of G.D. Khosla. The Police Commissioner heads all the four police districts in Delhi—North Delhi, Central Delhi, South Delhi and New Delhi.
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