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came under the control of Indian ministers. Theyrecommended that “the records of any suchintelligence department should be protectedfrom even the slightest danger of leakage.” Toobviate the possibility of the Indian ministerscoming to know the names of such agents, theCommittee recommended that “the instrumentsand instructions of the Government shouldspecifically require them to give directions that norecord relating to intelligence affecting terrorism,should be disclosed to anyone other than oneor two persons, who are directly dealing withthem.”Secondly, the Committee was of the view that nopurpose would be adequately served by placingthe Special Branch of the province under theGovernor. Instead, they recommended that theGovernor should be empowered to assume chargeof the department, if, according to him, the peaceand tranquility of the province is endangered, byovert or secret activities of persons who intend tooverthrow the Government.Thirdly, the Committee did not agree withthe suggestion that the IB should be under theexclusive control of the Governor General andthat the provincial Special Branches will becontrolled by the IB. There should, however,be close touch between the two, but to put theprovincial intelligence units under the IntelligenceBureau will tend “to break up the organic unity ofthe provincial police force.”Fourthly, on the question of exclusive controlof the Governor General over the IB, theCommittee stated that the IB “should, underthe new constitution, be assigned one of theGovernor General’s reserved departments, aspart of its normal activities.” The Committee,however, hoped that “the change in the formof Government, whether in the Centre or in theProvinces, should not involve any change in therelationship, which at present exists betweenthe Intelligence Bureau and the ProvincialIntelligence departments.”The Government of India Act, 1935 gave legalsanction to the suggestions. The IntelligenceBureau remained, by and large, under the directcontrol of the Governor General, though theHome Department of the Federal Governmentremained its immediate controlling authority.The fear that haunted the conscientiousIB officers, both at the Centre and in theProvinces, was that when the Provincial SpecialBranches would come under the Indian HomeMinisters, classified information about theNon-Cooperation and Civil Disobediencemovements, as well as some records of terroristactivities, might be leaked, resulting in exposureof sources, jeopardizing the safety of the agentsand informers. Thus, the credibility of entireorganization will be demolished.When the new ministers assumed office in theProvinces under the Government of India Act,1935, the mutual distrust between the intelligenceagencies and the people’s representatives wenton increasing. Many important secret and topsecret files, relating to the Non-cooperationand Civil Disobedience movements, were sentto the office of CIO of the Intelligence Bureau,which was statutorily secured from ministerialinterference, or to the Governor’s secretariat,either for destruction or for transfer to moresecured places. The Provincial Governmentsfrequently complained of spying on them by theCentral Intelligence.Control over the Intelligence organizationsremained a contentious issue till the outbreakof the Second World War, when under theDefence of India Act, ministerial authority overthe intelligence organizations was reduced.Again, on the eve of independence there wasgreat confusion about the sensitive records ofthe IB. Eventually, many records, especiallythose relating to the identity of the sources andinformers, were destroyed. Many sensitive fileswere removed to England. From many files,which are still in IB records, relevant papers havebeen removed, with a note in the notesheet.In the post-independence era, the IntelligenceBureau has expanded consequent upon themultiplicity of the problems that the nation hasbeen encountering. This great institution hasspawned several important security organizationslike Special Service Bureau, Special Security Force,Aviation Research Center, Indo-Tibetan BorderPolice Force, Research and Analysis Wing,Bureau of Aviation Security, Special ProtectionGroup, all for safeguarding the nation againstthe forces of disorder and destabilization.The Indian Police Journal, October - December, 2012, Special Issue 21