Delay in graft cases trial, CVC seeks Supreme Court's help

The special CBI courts designated for trial of corruption cases are being allotted matters of other agencies, the Central Vigilance Commission has said, as it expressed concern over delay in disposal of cases, some pending for over 20 years.
"The Commission has noted with concern, the large number of cases pending trial in different courts for years together, at times for over 20 years. It was observed that on an average it takes more than five years for judicial proceedings in any case under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act to reach its logical conclusion after the charge sheet is filed in the designated court.

"Such inordinate delays in dispensation of justice defeat the very purpose of efficient vigilance administration and are an impediment in the fight against corruption," the CVC said in its annual report tabled in Parliament recently.
It is, therefore, imperative that effective measures are taken to increase the disposal of pending PC Act cases under trial, appeals or revisions in order to effectively combat corruption, it said.
"The Commission is hopeful that with the increased number of special CBI courts, the pendency of the cases under trial will reduce and the average time taken for the trials will also come down," the report said.

The Commission has observed that one of the reasons for the delay in conclusion of trials was that some special courts, which were specifically designated to deal with CBI cases, are also being allotted cases of other agencies thereby adversely affecting the disposal of CBI cases, it said.

Out of 132 functional CBI special courts, 55 are also dealing with cases of other agencies. The Commission has therefore, requested the Supreme Court to consider the matter for suitable directions, said the report.
During 2015, judgements were received in 932 court cases under trial as compared to 1,006 in 2014.
Out of these 932 cases, 556 resulted in conviction, 262 in acquittal, 36 in discharge and 78 cases were disposed of for other reasons. The conviction rate decreased slightly to 65.1 per cent from 69.02 per cent in 2014, it said.

At the end of the year 2015, there were 6,663 corruption cases pending in various courts. Of these, 196 were pending for over 20 years, 1,449 for more than 10 years but less than 20, 2,070 for more than five years and up to 10 years, and 2,948 for less than five years, the report said.