Rajasthan’s 403 graft cases awaits prosecution sanction since ‘22: Govt to Assembly
In response to MLA Kali Charan Saraf’s question, ACB revealed it filed 1,592 applications for prosecution approval of corrupt officials between 2022 and 2024.
Jaipur: At least 403 corruption cases are pending prosecution sanction from the Rajasthan government since 2022, despite the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) catching 45% of the accused red-handed, according to data presented during the ongoing state assembly session.
In response to Malviya Nagar member of the legislative assembly (MLA) Kali Charan Saraf’s question, the ACB revealed that between 2022 and 2024, it filed 1,592 applications seeking prosecution approval for corrupt officials. However, 403 of these cases are still pending, including 183 where the accused were caught red-handed, read the classification of the data
According to the section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act 1988 (as amended in 2018), the ACB requires a prior approval to prosecute the accused public servants from their concerned higher authorities once the investigation is over.
“Government or any competent authority shall, after the receipt of the proposal requiring sanction for prosecution of a public servant under this sub-section, endeavour to convey the decision on such proposal within a period of three months from the date of its receipt,” the act read.
The data reveals that among the 403 cases waiting for a sanction even after the deadline of three months was past, include a total 102 graft cases waiting for the approval of prosecution since 2022, at least 47 of them are waiting since 2023, and another 254 since 2024.
The data further reads that a maximum of 80 such graft cases are pending for approval with the directorate of local bodies (DLB) followed by 69 at the panchayati raj (PR) department, 59 at the department of personnel (DoP), 37 at the revenue department, and at least 21 with the state police. Of these, a maximum of 36 cases were trapped red-handed in the DLB followed by 21 in revenue department, 17 in PR department, 12 in state police, and 11 in health department, an analysis of the data showed.
Meanwhile, the 403 pending cases include high-profile graft charges against former joint director of the department of information and communication (DoIT) Ved Prakash Yadav, assistant police superintendent (ASP) of Rajasthan’s Special Operation Group (SOG) Divya Mittal, and commissioner of Balotra Municipal Corporation Jodha Ram, among others.
The JD of DoIT, Ved Prakash Yadav, was arrested on May 19, 2023, after the ACB recovered around ₹23.1 million in unaccounted cash and Swiss-made gold bars weighing 1 kilogram from the basement of Yojana Bhawan during a surprise raid.
Following the ACB’s complaint, the enforcement directorate (ED) initiated a probe into the matter and arrested Yadav. The ED also named 35 officials, including the current finance secretary Akhil Arora, who was then the chairman of state-owned IT services company Raj Comp Info Services Limited, responsible for issuing government IT tenders.
After a thorough investigation, the ACB sought approval from the DoP to prosecute Yadav on September 25, 2024, but it is still pending, according to details provided in the assembly.
Following the ED’s list, the ACB also sought approval from the DoP on December 9, 2023, under Section 17A of the PC Act to question Arora and other officials. However, this approval is also pending with the state government, despite the deadline passing in March 2024, said an official familiar with the matter.
On January 14, 2023, the ACB had also arrested the ASP Mittal and was lodged in the Ajmer jail after the agency found conclusive evidences that she demanded a ₹2 crores bribery from an officer of a Jaipur based pharmaceutical firm to remove his name from an FIR in connection to a banned medicine seizure case.
The ACB sought prosecution sanction from the DoP in March 20, 2023 against Mittal which is yet pending after a year.
Responding to the delay in sanctioning the prosecution approval despite sufficient evidences against these officials and employees during the investigation, the health minister Gajendra Singh Kinvsar (who was replying to the question in the assembly in behalf of the ACB) said, “The delay happens when it takes time for the government seems not to be satisfied with the investigation.”
Kinvsar said, “Due to the unsatisfaction, the departments call the investigating officers and hold meetings while also reviewing the full investigation process which is time consuming. Meanwhile, the accused officers and employees also often move to the high court seeking a stay on the prosecution sanction causing such delay.”
However, the matter caused a ruckus in the assembly as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Saraf took a dig at his own government, questioning the handling of the corruption cases. Not satisfied with Khinvsar’s reply, Saraf sarcastically remarked, “I asked a question, but the answer I got was completely different. The question itself was changed.”
Reacting to Saraf, Khinvsar, defended the government’s stance, saying, “We provided a precise and detailed answer to the question. Between January 1, 2021, and 2022, a total of 1,592 cases were filed with the ACB, out of which prosecution was approved for 1,189 cases. The remaining 403 cases are still pending.”
Meanwhile, Saraf, raised a supplementary question, stating, “The Vigilance Commissioner has set a three-month deadline to approve cases for prosecution under the ACB, but still, no approval is being given to cases against corrupt officers. It seems like these officers are colluding with each other to delay justice.”
Saraf added, “The Prime Minister Narendra Modi always asks not to indulge in corruption. If the government are operating on a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption, then I want to ask why there are so many pending cases. I believe there should be consideration for forming a Cabinet sub-committee to address these issues.”
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