Govt depts sitting on graft inquiries, railways on top: CVC

Inquiry into a large number of corruption cases has been pending with many government departments with the railways being at the top of the list.
As many as 730 graft cases -- including 350 involving its senior officers -- are pending conclusion with the railways, 526 with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), 268 with Indian Overseas Bank and 193 with the Delhi government, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) data showed.
A total of 164 such cases are pending with State Bank of India, 128 with Bank of Baroda and 82 with Bank of Maharashtra.
At least 100 cases of disciplinary inquiries are pending with Punjab National Bank, 91 with Syndicate Bank, 71 with Syndicate Bank, 50 with Union Bank of India, 47 with Central Public Works Department, 41 with Prasar Bharati, 36 with Corporation Bank, 26 with Air India, 30 with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and two with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), it said.

The data is based on a suo motu initiative taken by the anti-corruption watchdog aimed at expediting probe into corruption cases.
The CVC had sought data from various government departments in a prescribed format regarding number of pending corruption cases involving senior and junior-level employees.

The Commission has received information from 290 organisations and come out with the detail of inquiries pending as on December 31, 2016.
The Commission has been time and again emphasising the need for expeditious finalisation of disciplinary proceedings by all administrative authorities, the CVC said in a directive to all departments.
"Despite such persuasions, it is observed that the required attention is not being accorded to this activity by the Disciplinary Authority concerned entailing inordinate delays in finalisation of cases," it said.

"The Disciplinary Authority concerned in the individual organisations, are, therefore, advised to expeditiously process all such pending reports," the CVC said, adding that non-compliance with its directives would be viewed adversely.