Shri Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, exhorted Directorate of Revenue Intelligence to maintain high integrity and professional standards and endeavour to become a “a near perfect” organisation.

In his address as the chief guest at the 61^st Founding Day of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at a function here today, Shri Jaitley spelled out few cardinal principles which every investigative agency should follow to achieve utmost level of perfection. Elaborating the principles, Shri Jaitley said that investigative agencies need to maintain utmost level of professionalism and be guided by one sole purpose, which is detection of crime. Shri Jaitley further said that the investigating officers have to make sure that no innocent is harmed or harassed but at the same time they have to ensure that no guilty gets away.

“The lesser it is in media controversy or news, the better it is for them. No news is good news as far as investigative agencies are concerned,” the Minister said. Cases not being established doesn’t add to the stature of the investigative agency. Maintaining high standards adds credibility to any investigative agency, the Minister observed.

Talking about the challenges of the present and future for DRI, Shri Jaitley said that India is located in an area where narcotics smuggling world over has picked up and therefore India is adversely impacted by it. “In the current geopolitical situation, considering India’s neighbourhood, we are affected by terrorism and therefore illegal smuggling of arms and ammunitions, particularly to aide insurgents in various parts of the country, is still in favour. The onus lies on our agencies to actually make sure that the country is safe and secure.”

Shri Jaitley also noted the contribution of officer of the DRI Late Shri L.D. Arora, who lost his life in the line of duty. Shri G.S. Sawhney and Shri M.L. Wadhawan., two former Director Generals of DRI, were also felicitated with DRI Utkrist Sewa Samman 2018.

Shri Jaitley also released the second issue of the Smuggling in India Report 2017-2018.

On the occasion, Revenue Secretary Shri Ajay Bhushan Pandey said that DRI has contributed to the economic and physical economy of India by actively bringing to light some significant cases of revenue loss, trade-based money laundering, also making large seizures of drugs and foreign currency and Fake Indian Currency notes (FICN). The significance of DRI has increased in this era of trade facilitation especially with the Government focusing on maximisation with Ease of Doing Business. Shri Pandey said that DRI has acquired a position of eminence amongst the other law enforcement agencies.

CBIC Chairman Shri S. Ramesh said that throughout its existence of 6 decades, the DRI has been at the vanguard of anti-smuggling effort. It has shown exemplary courage, resolve and dedication, invariably identified with DRI, has given results.

Earlier, while welcoming the gathering DRI Director General Shri Debi Prasad Dash informed the gathering about the achievements of DRI on various fronts. Shri Dash informed the gathering that DRI has created three new zones in North East, Central India and Kerala, taking the total number of zones to 12. He said that due to strengthening of its operations in North East and J&K, DRI has been able to seize arms, ammunition, smuggling of gold and drugs.

Investigative agency professionalism: uphold crime detection while protecting innocents and preventing wrongful harassment, maintaining operational integrity. Investigative agencies must prioritise professionalism and focus on detecting crime while ensuring innocents are not harmed; low public controversy and high internal standards underpin credibility. The DRI confronts narcotics, arms trafficking, trade-based money laundering and counterfeit currency, and has strengthened operations via new zones, regional focus, seizures and thematic reporting to support anti-smuggling and revenue-protection functions.