Holding the weak criminal justice system of the country responsible for encouraging corruption, CBI Director Ashwani Kumar called for completing trials in corruption cases within three years. Asserting that this was indeed possible ‘provided the government, judiciary and Parliament are determined’, Mr Kumar said there was a need to lay down a specified time-frame to complete trials in corruption cases as otherwise pendency of cases in courts would keep piling. ‘The proof of this was that over 9,000 cases chargesheeted by the CBI were lying in the courts.’ Addressing the XVIIth Heads of State Anti-Corruption Bureaux and CBI meet here this morning, the Director said departmental inquiries against officers of doubtful integrity should be completed within three to six months, and as a first step to expedite trials, the CBI has already decided to complete all its investigations within one year. ‘The weak criminal justice system of our country also encourages corruption. Departmental inquiries and trials of corruption cases go on for years and these delays encourage the dishonest to indulge in corrupt practices with impunity.’ Calling awakened citizens as the best safeguard against corruption, Mr Kumar said the CBI’s drive to enlighten citizens in this regard has been quite successful. Accepting that state anti-corruption bureaus lacked infrastructure to fight the scourge besides working under severe financial constraints, the CBI Director called for strengthening and modernising the state ACBs ‘in order to carry out the task assigned in a more efficient manner’. He said, ‘Poor quality of human resource and frequent transfers of men posted in state ACBs are causes of concern which need to be addressed.’ Stressing that the CBI and state ACBs were capable of rising to the challenge of fighting corruption, Mr Kumar assured the gathering saying, ‘It would be our endeavour to ensure that the fruits of development reach the masses and leakages in delivery system are plugged’. The biennial conference aims at strengthening the anti-corruption mechanism, while deliberating upon the varied dimensions of corruption in the country and the strategies to tackle it. Senior CBI officials along with chiefs of Anti-Corruption Bureaux, vigilance agencies from states and Union Territories and taking part in the two-day conference which began here today.
