Time/frame of three months in taking final view on Prosecution of tainted Officials

Question No. 2872 by Shri JADHAV PRATAPRAO GANPATRAO, GORAKH PRASAD JAISWAL & S. ALAGIRI

ANSWER by

Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public
Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office.
(SHRI V. NARAYANASAMY)

(a) whether the Government departments/Ministries are
unable to follow time/frame of three months in taking a final view on the
prosecution of tainted officials;

(a) & (b): The Supreme Court of India, vide its
judgment dated 18th December, 1997 in the case of Vineet Narain Vs. Union of
India, directed that “time limit of three months for grant of sanction for
prosecution must be strictly adhered to. However, additional time of one
month may be allowed where consultation is required with the Attorney General
(AG) or any Law Officer in the AG’s office”. The Supreme Court has, in its
recent judgement dated 31st January, 2012 in the case of Dr. Subramanian Swami
Vs. Dr. Manmohan Singh & Another (Civil Appeal No.1193 of 2012),
reiterated the said time limit.

It is sometime not possible to adhere to this time-limit
on account of administrative reasons. The delay which occurs in the
sanctioning of prosecution is mostly on account of detailed scrutiny and
analysis of voluminous case records and evidence, consultation with Central
Vigilance Commission (CVC), State Governments and other agencies, and
sometimes non- availability of relevant documentary evidence.

In order to check delays in grant of sanction for
prosecution, the Department of Personnel & Training has issued guidelines
vide its OM No.399/33/2006-AVD-III dated 6th November, 2006 followed by
another OM dated 20th December, 2006, providing for a definite time frame at
each stage for handling of requests from CBI for prosecution of public
servants.

The Group of Ministers on tackling corruption, in its
first report, had also given certain recommendations for speedy disposal of
sanction of prosecution cases, which included- taking decision on such cases
within 3 months; monitoring of such cases at the level of Secretary of the
Ministry/Department concerned and submission of report to the Cabinet
Secretary; and in cases of refusal to accord sanction, submission of a report
to the next higher authority within 7 days for information (where competent
authority is Minister such report is to be submitted to the Prime Minister).
The said recommendation of the GoM has been accepted by Government and
instructions have been issued by the Government on 3rd May, 2012.

(b)          if so,
whether the Government have issued specific directives recently in this
regard and to maximize transparency;

(c) if so, the number of cases where action has been
delayed or is under consideration for alleged corruption charges; and

(c): As per information provided by the Central Bureau of
Investigation, sanction for prosecution is pending in 32 cases under the
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against 69 public servants in various
Ministries/ Departments and State Governments for over three months as on
31.7.2012.

(d) the steps taken or being taken by the Government to
take hard stand on corruption?

(d): The Central Government is fully alive and committed
to implement its policy of “Zero Tolerance against Corruption” and has taken
several steps, in the recent past, to combat corruption. These include:-