It’s a case of putting the cart before the horse as many government departments and ministries have been denying prosecution sanction to the CBI in cases of corruption and then subsequently referring the matter to the Central Vigilance Commission for advice. This anomaly has been pointed out by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) in a terse note sent nearly a week ago to all ministries, departments and even government agencies.
In fact, the DoPT has stated that it is mandatory to complete the entire exercise for granting permission to prosecute within a period of three weeks during which the process of seeking advice and consultation with the CVC should also be completed.
“It is absurd for a ministry or a department to first deny prosecution permission to the CBI and then go running to the CVC seeking its advice. This delays penal action against corrupt officials and at times even weakens CBI’s case as the chargesheet cannot be filed in court in time,’’ a senior DoPT official said.
Interestingly, the CBI also submits the final investigation report along with the permission for prosecution to the concerned administrative ministry or department.
Despite this, there is a delay. In case the concerned department refuses sanction for prosecution within the mandatory three weeks period, it will have to give detailed explanation in writing to the CBI, DoPT and the CVC. Sources said the DoPT is also contemplating initiating disciplinary action against those officials who are responsible for causing the delay in granting the sanction.
In fact in the last few months alone, 38 such cases have come to department of personnel and training’s notice with the banking sector being the single biggest defaulter.