Vigilance Duties
A s an organized measure towards tackling corruption in public administration, the Government of Tamil Nadu set up the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption as a separate department on 26th March 1964. It functioned on a temporary basis till 5th May 1978, then it was made permanent. The Department is headed by a Director in the rank of Director – General of Police / Additional Director General of Police and is assisted by one Joint Director and Deputy Director in the rank of Inspector General of Police and Deputy Inspector General of Police, respectively. They co-ordinate all aspects of Anti-Corruption work and supervise important enquiries.
★ There are 5 Superintendents of Police – all located at Headquarters in Chennai - supervising the work of the investigating staff who are spread out in different detachments located in 5 Ranges namely Chennai City Range, North Range, Central Range, South Range and West Range. Besides there is Special Investigation Cell located at Headquarters in Chennai with 1 Inspector General of Police, 2 Superintendents of Police, 1 Addl.Superintendent of Police and 2 Deputy Superintendents of Police under Special Investigation Cell.
★ Each Detachment is under the charge of a Deputy Superintendent of Police, who is assisted by Inspectors of Police with supporting staff in the rank of Head Constables and Police Constables. The posts of DSP in Chennai City Unit – II and of Chennai City Special Unit have been upgraded as Addl. Superintendent of Police. The Detachments are grouped into five Ranges and each Range is under the charge of a Superintendent of Police. Of the 5 Superintendents of Police, 3 function exclusively as Range Superintendents of Police supervising the work of the detachment/field units in their respective Range while the other two Superintendents of Police, Chennai Range in addition to the Range work, also assists the Director in the administrative work at Headquarters. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Detachments functioning under the each Range SPs are tabulated hereunder:
★ The Directorate has its own Law staff consisting of 4 Additional Legal Advisors, 34 Deputy Legal Advisers and 6 Prosecutors for Disciplinary Proceedings to prosecute cases in Courts and also before the Tribunals for Disciplinary Proceedings. The Law staff of the Directorate are notified as Ex-officio Special Public Prosecutors for all classes of cases investigated by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption and triable by the Special Judges appointed under *Section 3 (i) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (Central Act 49 of 1988).
★There is an Executive/Superintending Engineer attached to the Directorate as a full time officer at Headquarters to provide technical advice and/or assistance in enquiries/investigations and to maintain liaison with the various Engineering Departments of the Government. Also, one Additional Director, one Assistant Director and one Finger Print expert of State Finger Print Bureau are appointed to assist the DVAC in the investigation of cases.
★ The executive Police Officers and Constabulary required for the Directorate are drawn from the Police Department, while the technical officers are inducted from the Highways/Public Works Departments. The posts of Legal Adviser, Deputy Legal Advisers and Prosecutors are filled either by recruitment from the Law Officers in the State service or by promotion from the existing law officers within the Directorate.
★While the normal duty of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption is to conduct enquiries into allegations of corruption and allied misconduct referred to by the Vigilance Commissioner and also to furnish the Commission with any information and statistics which could be gathered by the Directorate, its main responsibilities are:
★ There are 5 Superintendents of Police – all located at Headquarters in Chennai - supervising the work of the investigating staff who are spread out in different detachments located in 5 Ranges namely Chennai City Range, North Range, Central Range, South Range and West Range. Besides there is Special Investigation Cell located at Headquarters in Chennai with 1 Inspector General of Police, 2 Superintendents of Police, 1 Addl.Superintendent of Police and 2 Deputy Superintendents of Police under Special Investigation Cell.
★ Each Detachment is under the charge of a Deputy Superintendent of Police, who is assisted by Inspectors of Police with supporting staff in the rank of Head Constables and Police Constables. The posts of DSP in Chennai City Unit – II and of Chennai City Special Unit have been upgraded as Addl. Superintendent of Police. The Detachments are grouped into five Ranges and each Range is under the charge of a Superintendent of Police. Of the 5 Superintendents of Police, 3 function exclusively as Range Superintendents of Police supervising the work of the detachment/field units in their respective Range while the other two Superintendents of Police, Chennai Range in addition to the Range work, also assists the Director in the administrative work at Headquarters. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Detachments functioning under the each Range SPs are tabulated hereunder:
| SNo. | Range | Detachments |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Chennai City Range | CC-I, CC-II ,CC-III, CC-IV, CC-V, CSU-I, CSU-III and Hqrs. |
| 2. | North Range | Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur, Vellore, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Thiruvannamalai and Admn.Branch. |
| 3. | Central Range | Trichy, Karur, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur. |
| 4. | South Range | Madurai, Virudhunagar, Theni, Thoothukudi, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai, Dindigul, Kaniyakumari and Tirunelveli. |
| 5. | West Range | Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, The Nilgiris, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Namakkal. |
★There is an Executive/Superintending Engineer attached to the Directorate as a full time officer at Headquarters to provide technical advice and/or assistance in enquiries/investigations and to maintain liaison with the various Engineering Departments of the Government. Also, one Additional Director, one Assistant Director and one Finger Print expert of State Finger Print Bureau are appointed to assist the DVAC in the investigation of cases.
★ The executive Police Officers and Constabulary required for the Directorate are drawn from the Police Department, while the technical officers are inducted from the Highways/Public Works Departments. The posts of Legal Adviser, Deputy Legal Advisers and Prosecutors are filled either by recruitment from the Law Officers in the State service or by promotion from the existing law officers within the Directorate.
★While the normal duty of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption is to conduct enquiries into allegations of corruption and allied misconduct referred to by the Vigilance Commissioner and also to furnish the Commission with any information and statistics which could be gathered by the Directorate, its main responsibilities are:
❶
⊛ To collect intelligence to detect cases of bribery and corruption and to investigate offences falling within the purview of Sections 7 to 15 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (Central Act 49 of 1988). Offences committed prior to 09.09.1988 and falling within the purview of Section 5 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and Sections 161 to 165-A of the Indian Penal Code would also be investigated by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption.
❷
⊛ To institute enquiries into complaints made by members of public or received from Government, Vigilance Commissioner and Departmental Authorities relating to criminal misconduct (bribery and corruption), criminal misappropriation and criminal breach of trust, etc., and other venal practices by Public Servants.