Central Vigilance Commission



Established in 1964, the Central Vigilance Commission (CTE) was formed to provide proper guidance to the Central Government in the area of vigilance. It was set up due to the proposal of the Committee on Prevention of Corruption. During that time, the Commission was headed by Shri. K. Santhanam. The Central Vigilance Commission is the authority controlling vigilance activities in India. It operates under the Central Government of India and provides assistance to various establishments of the Government in reviewing, implementing and planning their work.

Some of the important functions of the Central Vigilance Commission in India are as follows:

  • Keeping a close watch on the investigations carried out by the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE)
  • Emphasizing on inquiry, investigation, review and appeal in cases of disciplinary issues
  • Supervising the works of DSPE in cases of investigation as per the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
  • Presiding over the Committee for choosing the SP level and above DSPE rank officers, CBI Director and Director of Enforcement Directorate


The Commission has three divisions, namely, Chief Technical Examiners' Wing, Secretariat and Commissioners for Departmental Inquiries. The Central Vigilance Commission of India has 15 Commissioner's posts. Among them, 14 officers hold the position of Deputy Secretaries and the remaining one is appointed as the Joint Secretary.

The Chief Technical Examiners' Wing of the Election Commission of India is controlled by two Chief Engineers. They are assisted by other engineers for proper execution of the work. The organization has been entrusted with the following tasks:

  1. Inspection of cases, which are related with construction works
  2. Providing assistance to the CBI personnel in their work
  3. Technical audit of the construction works done by various governmental organizations.


The Secretariat of the Commission comprises a Secretary who holds the rank of Additional Secretary in the office of the Government of India. There are also 10 other officers holding the rank of Deputy Secretaries and one officer of the position of Joint Secretary in the administrative unit.

The Central Vigilance Commission comprises 2 Vigilance Commissioners and a Central Vigilance Commissioner. It has received the status of a "designated agency" from the Government of India. The Commission has the right to take action against any person involved in corruption or misuse of power. In 2003, the bill for the Central Vigilance was passed by the Parliament Houses. The President of India approved the bill in 2003 on 11th September.

Shri Pratyush Sinha is the Central Vigilance Commissioner and Shri. Sudhir Kumar and Ranjana Kumar are the Vigilance Commissioners of the Vigilance Commission. The Vigilance Commissioners are the senior officers assisting the departmental head for proper execution of the work. The officers act as the link between the Central Vigilance Commission and the organizations. They perform several functions, which include:

  1. Detection and prevention of corruption
  2. Examining the rules of the organizations in order to lessen the chances of corruption
  3. Conducting inspections for detecting failures in systems of any organizations
  4. Punishing the officers engaged in malpractices
  5. Keeping close watch on the progress of vigilance cases and others




Last Updated on 28 September 2012