212 CBI cases on corruption pending trail, 397 appeals in higher courts for over 20 years: CVC

Over 200 cases registered by the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act are pending trial in lower courts and appeals in around 400 such cases are pending for over 20 years in High Courts and the Supreme Court, a new report by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has said.

When it comes to pending investigations, there are 30 cases in which investigators are yet to arrive at a conclusion despite probing for over five years.

These details are part of the Annual Report 2020 of the CVC, which is statutorily mandated to superintend the work of CBI in respect of investigations conducted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, made public on Tuesday.

In 2020, the CVC said the CBI registered a total 676 cases, including 87 preliminary enquiries (PEs), as against 710 (102 PEs) in 2019. Of the 676 cases, 425 were related to PC Act cases – 86 were bribery related and 30 for possession of disproportionate assets.

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Courts delivered judgement in 266 cases related to CBI last year, of which 191 were related to corruption cases.

Of the corruption cases, 128 ended in conviction, 46 in acquittal, four in discharge and 13 otherwise disposed of. A total of 260 people were convicted, 252 acquitted, 66 discharged and 77 people otherwise disposed of in cases.

Altogether 9,757 cases were pending in various courts at the end of 2020, which included 6,497 cases registered under Prevention of Corruption Act.

Of the 6,497 corruption cases pending trial, 212 cases are in courts for over 20 years while 1,782 are pending in court for 10 to 20 years. Another 2,168 cases are pending trial for 5 to 10 years while 1,031 are yet to see conclusion in courts despite being tried for three to five years. There are 1,304 cases which are pending for less than three years.

A total of 11,578 cases are pending appeal or revision petitions in the Supreme Court and various High Courts.

A total of 974 cases involving 10,410 accused are pending in High Courts while 61 cases involving 133 accused are pending in Supreme Court. There are 397 appeals and revisions -- 394 appeals and 3 revisions, which are pending for more than 20 years in the higher judiciary.

On the pendency in lower courts, the CVC cited reasons, including limited number of hearings, non-availability of witnesses and inadequate strength of prosecution staff due to vacancies, for the delay. It also said dilatory tactics adopted by the accused by way of filing applications for transfer of cases from one court to another court challenging the legality of investigation by CBI and court stay among others also contribute to the rising pendency.

When it comes to pendency in investigation, the report said there were 30 cases in which the probe had not been completed for over five years. There are 330 cases pending for less than one year, 155 for one to two years, 76 for two to three years and 92 for three to five years.