New Delhi, December 4: Lauding the role played by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in protecting the interests of the nation, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday had a word of caution for its officials, as he asked them to show prudence in using discretion during the course of investigations and endeavour to achieve near perfection.
Speaking at a function here to mark the 61st foundation day of DRI, the Finance Minister said, “The powers of revenue officers are quite wide so the exercise of discretion has to be fair, reasonable and productive. They should strive for near perfection with cardinal principles of professionalism and that no innocent is harmed.”
With the opening of economy, trade facilitations and evolving laws, Jaitley said, DRI officials should not only keep themselves abreast of the changing situation, but also strive for “near perfection”.
He said, “India’s geopolitical situation and the neighbourhood also throw up several challenges, which are mainly on account of terrorism. To breed and sustain terrorism, illegal arms and contraband substances are pushed into the country and here DRI has a special role besides the security forces guarding the borders.”
Stressing on the need to make a special endeavour in ensuring higher conviction rate and realisation of penalties, Jaitley said the officers in the agency should avoid making a “song and dance” at the initial stages of their investigation by engaging with the media.
“Only when the success rate of prosecution and penalty is high, the existing laws would act as a deterrent to offenders,” he insisted, while adding: “No news is good news for investigative agencies.”
The minister, however, highlighted the fact that DRI mostly remained out of collateral controversies, which is a good attribute to its quality. He also lauded the DRI’s recent efforts in detecting over Rs 4,000 crore worth of trade-based evasion.
