5 months ago
1
The Forum for Good Governance has written to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy flagging ‘abnormal delays’ successful prosecuting Anti-Corruption Bureau cases, informing that prolonged proceedings and debased condemnation rates were undermining deterrence against corruption successful Telangana’s administration.
In a practice dated December 18, the forum said the ACB had registered 621 cases implicit the past 5 years, averaging astir 120 cases annually. However, it alleged that erstwhile the Director General of ACB completes inquiries and submits reports seeking support to prosecute the accused officials, decisions successful the Secretariat are often delayed, sometimes by much than a year. The forum claimed that authorisation to prosecute was accorded successful hardly a 4th of cases, with the remainder being sent for departmental inquiries oregon to the Tribunal for Disciplinary Proceedings, wherever cases tin instrumentality decades to conclude.
The forum further pointed retired that adjacent aft charge-sheets are filed, cases often stay pending successful courts for much than a decade, with lone astir 20 to 25 cases being disposed of each year. Citing ACB data, it said that successful 2023–24, lone 19 aged cases were disposed of, resulting successful 9 convictions and 10 acquittals, portion successful 2024–25, a full of 22 cases were disposed of, with 12 convictions and 10 acquittals. Overall, the condemnation complaint stands astatine astir 50%, it said.
The forum referred to a disproportionate assets lawsuit registered against a centrifugal conveyance inspector, B. Bhadru Naik, successful December 2008. Although the serviceman was suspended and an enquiry study submitted seeking prosecution sanction, it took 16 months for the authorities to accord permission, during which clip the serviceman was reinstated. A charge-sheet was filed successful 2011, but the lawsuit remains pending adjacent aft 15 years, the forum said. It added that the serviceman was subsequently promoted and aboriginal caught again portion allegedly accepting a bribe, starring to a 2nd lawsuit that is inactive nether inquiry. This, the forum argued, reflected a deficiency of fearfulness of punishment and pointed to rampant corruption.
The forum’s president M. Padmanabha Reddy urged the Chief Minister to contented directions to guarantee prosecution sanctions are granted wrong a period of being sought, accused officers are not fixed postings until cases are disposed of, trials are completed wrong 2 years, and the condemnation complaint is raised from 50% to 90%. The forum said specified measures were indispensable to reconstruct nationalist assurance and efficaciously curb corruption successful administration.
