After the end of the war, there was a continued need for a central governmental agency to investigate bribery and corruption by central-government employees.

[15] Demanding independent investigations, the CBI said that although it deferred to the government's authority in non-corruption cases, the agency felt that sufficient financial and administrative powers were required by the director (including a minimum three-year tenure to ensure "functional autonomy").

The Selection Committee consists of:[18] The NDA government, on 25 November 2014, moved an amendment bill to do away with the requirement of quorum in high-profile committee while recommending the names for the post of director CBI to the central government by introducing the clause "no appointment of a (CBI) director shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancy or absence of members in the panel" and to replace the Leader of the Opposition (LOP) with the leader of the single largest opposition party or pre-election coalition.

The building has a staff cafeteria with a capacity of 500, gyms, a terrace garden, and bi-level basement parking for 470 vehicles.

Advanced fire-control and power-backup systems are provided, in addition to a press briefing room and media lounge.

[20] On January 7, 2025, the Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, launched the CBI developed Bharatpol platform.

Requests for real-time data exchange, including the sending of Red Corner Notices (RCNs) and other alerts over a worldwide network, will be responded to by Bharatpol more quickly both domestically and internationally.

Before the academy was built a small training centre at Lok Nayak Bhawan, New Delhi, conducted short-term in-service courses.

While the CBI holds primary responsibility, state anti-corruption agencies may also possess concurrent jurisdiction in certain circumstances, depending on the specific provisions of relevant legislation and judicial interpretations.

[27][28][29][30] The court , therefore, held that “the VACB, being a specially constituted agency to investigate bribery, corruption and misconduct mainly under the PC Act is always clothed with the authority to investigate offences involving corruption that take place within the State, whether it is committed by a Central government employee or a State Government employee.

[33][34] Once consent is granted, the CBI can investigate economic, corruption, and special crimes (including national security, drugs and narcotics, etc.

[62] In January 2006 it was discovered that the CBI had quietly unfrozen bank accounts belonging to Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, one of those accused in the 1986 Bofors scandal which tainted the government of Rajiv Gandhi.

Associates of then-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi were linked to alleged payoffs made during the mid-1980s by Swedish arms firm AB Bofors, with US million[clarification needed]in kickbacks moved from Britain and Panama to secret Swiss banks.

The CBI, which unfroze ₹21 crore (US$2.4 million) in a London bank in accounts held by Bofors, accused Quattrocchi and his wife Maria in 2006 but facilitated his travel by asking Interpol to take him off its wanted list on 29 April 2009.

[63] A 1991 arrest of militants in Kashmir led to a raid on hawala brokers, revealing evidence of large-scale payments to national politicians.

The Jain hawala case encompassed former Union ministers Ajit Kumar Panja and P. Shiv Shankar, former Uttar Pradesh governor Motilal Vora, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha.

In 1997 a ruling by late Chief Justice of India J. S. Verma listed about two dozen guidelines which, if followed, would have ensured the independence of the investigating agency.

In Vineet Narain & Others v Union of India AIR 1996 SC 3386, the Supreme Court ruled that the Central Vigilance Commission should have a supervisory role over the CBI.

[64] In this case Santosh Kumar Singh, the alleged murderer of a 25-year-old law student, was acquitted for what the judge called "deliberate inaction" by the investigating team.

The CBI applied for an early hearing in July 2006; in October the High Court found Singh guilty of rape and murder, sentencing him to death.

[citation needed] This case concerns 27 March 1992 death of a nun who was found in a water well in the Saint Pius X convent hostel in Kottayam, Kerala.

The case was solved finally in December 2020 where the Main Accused were sentenced to life imprisonment by The Kerala High Court.

The agency had filed two charge sheets, sent Letters rogatory abroad and sent a team to the United States to imprison Chatwal and his wife from 2–5 February 1997.

Along with four others, Chatwal was charged with being part of a "criminal conspiracy" to defraud the Bank of India's New York branch of ₹28.32 crore (US$3.3 million).

RTI applicant Krishnanand Tripathi was denied access to public information concerning the closed cases.

Former CBI joint director B. R. Lall has said that he was asked to remain soft on extradition for Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson[70] and drop the charges (which included culpable homicide).

CBI director Ranjit Sinha submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court that the coal-scam status report prepared by the agency was shared with Congress Party law minister Ashwani Kumar "as desired by him" and with secretary-level officers from the prime minister's office (PMO) and the coal ministry before presenting it to the court.

On 13 December 2024, the R.G.Kar principal Sandip Ghosh and the station house officer of the Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal was granted bail by the Sealdah Court in destruction of evidence in the 2024 Kolkata rape and murder incident as the CBI failed to file a chargesheet against Ghosh and Mondal within a span of 90 days.

[85] This has lead to a widespread outrage as the victim's parents were not satisfied with the CBI investigation stating that evidence had been destroyed by Ghosh and Mondal.