Status
In reply to a question of 29 July 2009, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office told the Lok Sabha that R&AW was created in 1968 and works within the Cabinet Secretariat, and that its functions are not governed by any separate statute. Its role and responsibilities are set out in a charter approved by the government in 2000, following a review of the system by a task force on the intelligence apparatus.1
In a reply of 3 December 2014 the government repeated that R&AW is under the direct administrative control of the Cabinet Secretariat.2
Oversight – the debate
In 2009 the government replied that it was not considering setting up a parliamentary committee on the model of the American intelligence committees. In 2011 the MP Manish Tewari introduced a private member’s bill on the intelligence services (the Intelligence Services (Powers and Regulation) Bill), intended to regulate the functioning and powers of the Indian services at home and abroad, as well as their coordination, control and oversight.1,3
Sources
- Lok Sabha (Digital Library of Parliament of India), Unstarred Question No. 3516: Legal framework for RAW, answer by the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, 29.07.2009
- Lok Sabha (Digital Library of Parliament of India), Unstarred Question No. 1630: Working of CBI and RAW, answer of 3.12.2014
- Lok Sabha (Digital Library of Parliament of India), Intelligence Services (Powers and Regulation) Bill, 2011 – motion for leave to introduce the bill (Manish Tewari)
Checked: 4 November 2026