1 out of every 3 Corruption related Case resulted in Acquittal of Government Officials since 2006

As per the data shared by the government, 1 out of every 3 corruption related case investigated by the CBI and where the trail is complete resulted in the acquittal of government officials.

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The Prevention of Corruption Act ,1988 (PC Act) deals with the corruption related cases of government servants.  The amendments to the act are yet to be ratified by the Parliament. As per the data shared by the government in the Lok Sabha, more than 30% of the corruption related cases involving a central government official, under the PC act resulted in acquittal since 2006. These cases were investigated by the CBI and their trial is complete.

More than 7000 corruption related cases investigated & disposed since 2006

CBI completed the Investigation of more than 7000 cases under the PC Act from 2006 to June 2016. Out of these cases, 3615 ended in prosecution, 2178 ended in prosecution as well as Regular Departmental Action (RDA) while 636 cases ended in only RDA. Another 671 cases were closed without any action.

CBI investigated & disposed the highest number of cases under the PC  in the year 2008 followed by 2007. The least number of cases were investigated & disposed in the year 2010. An average of over 600 cases are being investigated & disposed by the CBI in the last few years. On average, 9.3% of the cases ended in closure without any action. The closure rate was more than 10% in 4 of these 10 years while it was less than the 9.3% average in 5 of these years.

More than 32% cases ended in Acquittal

Since 2006, the trial is complete in 6533 cases under the PC Act where the investigation was done by the CBI. 4054 cases ended in conviction of the accused while 2095 cases ended in acquittal. In other words, 1 out of every 3 cases resulted in acquittal of government officials in corruption related cases.

The Acquittal rate was highest in 2007 where more than 50% of the cases ended in acquittal. The acquittal rate was more than 30% in 6 out of the 10 years while it was less than 30% in the remaining 4 years. Most number of cases were disposed in 2013 (921 cases) followed by 865 in 2012. The least number of cases where disposed in 2008 (369). Ironically, 2008 was the year where most such cases were investigated & disposed by the CBI.

Prosecution Sanction still an issue

As per the PC act, the relevant government has to sanction the prosecution of the official where the investigating agency like the CBI recommends prosecution. Though the government is supposed to take a decision on sanction of prosecution within a period of 3 months, many such cases remain pending for sanction from the government even after 4 months.

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