Pace of action against corrupt officials slow: RTI

Times of India‎: Bareilly: Saturday, April 16, 2016.

An RTI query has revealed that 31 cases of corruption in 2015 and five cases this year till February 2016 , against gazetted and non-gazetted officials in Delhi were registered with the Anti-corruption branch but not a single chargesheet has been filed till now relating to these cases.

A Moradabad-based RTI activist, Pawan Agarwal, who filed this RTI query, said, "The motive of filing the RTI was to know about the action taken against corrupt officials in Delhi after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power. However, from January 2015 to February 2016, 36 officials have been booked on corruption charges but all cases are pending and no chargesheet has been filed till now."

He added, "I sought information on a number of cases registered and number of chargesheets filed against gazette and non-gazette officials from 2010 to February 2016 to compare the status of cases over the years."

The RTI reply stated that chargesheet was filed in seven cases of corruption in Delhi out of a total of 64 cases in 2014. With 64 persons booked by Anti-corruption branch, the highest number of cases of corruption were reported in 2014 in the period between 2010 to February, 2016.

According to RTI reply, out of 23 cases registered in 2013 with the Anti-corruption branch of Delhi, chargesheet was filed in only five cases. Similarly, 21 and 12 government officials were booked on corruption charges in 2012 and 2011, respectively. However, the chargesheet has been filed only in seven each in these cases in 2012 and 2011. In 2010, a total of 39 cases were registered with the Anti-corruption branch in Delhi and chargesheet was filed in 22 cases.

The RTI activist added, "The RTI reply clearly shows that maximum number of cases of corruption are pending for years and only in a few cases, the chargesheet has been filed. Both Centre and Delhi government had promised to fight corruption before forming their respective governments but the speed in taking action against corrupt officials is slow."