CBI's key responsibility is to free India from corruption: Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the key responsibility of the Central Bureau of Investigation was to free India from corruption, which he said was the “biggest roadblock to democracy and justice”, and added it should not be distracted by those trying to tarnish its image.

Addressing a gathering at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the CBI here at Vigyan Bhawan, he stressed that his government does not lack the political will to fight against corruption. “The desire of the country and its citizens is that no corrupt person should be spared”, he said.

“Corruption is not just a small crime. It snatches the rights of the poor and that leads to the birth of many criminals,” Mr Modi noted.

The government, he said, had started action against black money and benami property on mission mode. “Besides the corrupt, we are fighting the causes of corruption,” he said, adding that building a developed India was not possible without professional and efficient institutions and the CBI,  therefore, has a huge responsibility.

Terming corruption as the biggest enemy of merit, Mr Modi said it encourages nepotism and dynastic rule. When these two increase, the country’s strength gets affected, and when strength is weakened, it impacts development, he said.

For decades, the PM added, the corrupt have created ways to loot the country’s riches, and this was done by robbing the government’s wealth. He said those who benefited from corruption for decades have created an ecosystem which attacks probe agencies. But the agencies should not be deterred by stories about the power of the corrupt and their ecosystem to tarnish them.

“These people will keep distracting you, but you have to focus on your work. No corrupt person should be spared. There should be no laxity in our efforts. This is the wish of the country, this is the wish of the people of the country. The country, the law and the Constitution are with you,” the PM said.

“Today there is no dearth of political will to take action against corruption in the country,” Mr Modi said, and asked officers to take action against the corrupt, however powerful, without any hesitation.

Referring to international transactions and the movement of people, goods and services on a large scale, even outside the country’s geographical boundaries, the PM said that India’s economic power was growing while those who created the obstacles were also rising.

He asked the CBI to devise ways to fast-track probes against the corrupt as a languishing probe gives a sense of safety to the corrupt while innocent people keep suffering. Noting that when a case remains unsolved, there are demands for it to be handed over to the CBI, he said it has given faith to people through its work and techniques.

“The CBI’s name is on everyone's lips. It is like a brand for truth and justice. Even at the panchayat level, if some major crime happens, people want it to be referred to the CBI,” he added.

The PM said that Internet banking and UPI stand in stark contrast to the earlier “phone banking” malaise, where loans worth thousands of crores of rupees were sanctioned on the basis of phone calls from influential people. He said that the beneficiaries “scooted away with public money”, adding that the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act has so far enabled the confiscation of Rs 20,000 crores in the properties of fugitive offenders.

The PM said the corrupt would go to the extent of looting the aid given to beneficiaries of government schemes, be it rations, homes, scholarships or pensions, and the original beneficiary would feel conned every time. “Even a Prime Minister once said that for every rupee sent out to the poor, only 15 paise reached them,” he said.

During the programme, an investiture ceremony for the recipients of the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service and Gold Medal for Best Investigating Officers of the CBI was held where the PM conferred the medals.

He also inaugurated the newly-built office complexes of the CBI in Shillong, Pune and Nagpur, released a postage stamp and commemorative coin, and launched the Twitter handle of the CBI.