Even as corruption continues to be a major cause of concern for the world’s largest democracy, pending cases related to successful traps carried out by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has been piling-up owing to inordinate delays in obtaining “Prosecution Sanctions”- a mandatory nod sought from the appropriate authority before filing charge-sheets against the tainted.
Information sourced out by social activist-Krishna Gupta under the Right to Information (RTI) reveals that ACB’s Thane division had sought sanctions for prosecution in 70 graft cases under section 17 (a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
However, the ACB has managed to receive nods in just six in a period ranging for more than six years from 2014 to June-2021. Notably, like Thane, the overall scenario across other ACB divisions in the state also paints a similar picture.
A total of 274 sanctions from the respective competent authorities were awaited till July 2, 2021. Interestingly, out of the 274 cases, 212 proposals were more than 90 days old.
Tied up in rules, the ACB has no other option but to wait for an approval leading to inordinate delays while moving ahead in such cases.
Consequently, the conviction rate in corruption remains pathetic. For prosecutions, a sanction is mandated from the competent authority failing which the judiciary does not take cognizance of the case.
In an attempt to bring transparency in governance, the erstwhile government had announced that it was under the process of framing a new policy for speedy clearances of graft cases so as to ensure that nobody is spared if found guilty. However, the fate of the proposed reforms are still unknown.
