| TOI : State speeds up prosecution of tainted staff : Nov 15,2007
State speeds up prosecution of tainted staff
Mateen Hafeez I TNN Mumbai: The state has promised to speed up prosecution of all government employees who have been booked for accepting bribes and amassing assets disproportionate to their income. Files pertaining to many such cases have long been pending sanction from the law and judiciary department. When asked about the delay in paving the way for the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) to prosecute tainted government employees, home minister R R Patil told TOI, “I have already conducted two meetings and reviewed the situation. Hundreds of files have already been cleared and the rest will be cleared soon.’’ According to Patil, pending files were being scrutinised and he has ordered that they be reviewed and cleared for action as soon as possible. The ACB has released a list of corrupt officials from various departments arrested during the year. According to the list, of the 134 policemen caught, the bulk (106) were Class III employees while 10 belonged to Class I. The revenue department came second on the corruption list with 76 of its employees caught for either taking a bribe or misconduct. Barring two, who were Class I officials, the rest were Class III employees. The BMC stood third in the list with 49 employees trapped by the ACB. An ACB official said as according to Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, it is compulsory to take prior permission from a ‘competent authority’ to prosecute such accused persons. “Usually, a sanction from the home department is not required in all the cases. We send the cases of Class I officers and those above that to the home department for a nod. In other cases, we send letters to get sanction from the heads of the departments concerned,’’ said J D Virkar, ACB’s director-general. Prior permission is a legal requirement for filing chargesheets. “The chargesheet is filed in almost 95% of cases where people are trapped while taking a bribe. In cases related to criminal misconduct or disproportionate assets, the chargesheet is filed in 90% of cases,’’ an ACB official said. “The overall conviction rate in all such cases is 31%.’’ That means one out of every three government servants booked for corruption is usually convicted and stripped of his job. The rest are usually suspended for six months to a year before they are reinstated. R R Patil Publication:Times of India Mumbai; Date:Nov 15, 2007; Section:Times City; Page Number:7 |