01-09-2022 The Asian Independent

2
01-09-2022 to 15-08-2022 NEWS
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Is CBI acquiring reputation
of being a drain inspector?
New Delhi : The CBI is acquiring
the reputation of being a drain inspector.
Nailing small fry has become the
norm. From being India's premier anticorruption
agency, it has been relegated
to a poor cousin with the emergence
of the Enforcement Directorate
armed to the teeth with PMLA.
Moreover, as the case travels up the
food chain, it gets weaker due to poor
quality of investigation and weak evidence
which does not add up before
the higher courts. The data released by
the Central Vigilance Commission
(CVC) show that in 2021, the Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recorded
2.27 per cent lower conviction rate
as compared to 2020.
In 2021, the CBI achieved conviction
in 67.56 per cent of the cases
whereas in 2020 the conviction rate
stood at 69.83 per cent.
These figures mostly refer to convictions
in the trial courts, as the numbers
come down as cases move to the
upper courts. In most cases, the CBI
gets defeated in the upper courts due
to lapses in investigation and lack of
evidence. Senior advocate Geetha
Luthra said that this could be because
most such cases are political in nature
and come from different states.
"Unless there is watertight evidence,
the accused gets acquitted,"
Luthra said. Apart from this, at times
the central probe agency also fails to
furnish chargesheets on time due to
lack of man power and work overload.
Last year, the CBI had told the
Supreme Court that it is working hard
to increase the conviction rate to 75
per cent. In 2020, its conviction rate
was 69.83 per cent, which was higher
than 2021 (67.56 per cent).
CBI Director S.K. Jaiswal, in an
affidavit furnished before the apex
court in 2021, had stated that by
August 2022, the agency would take
the conviction rate to 75 per cent.
The CVC data show that last year,
the agency lodged 680 cases and initiated
preliminary inquiry in 67 cases,
while these figures stood at 589 cases
and 87 preliminary inquiries in 2020.
In 2021, around 10,232 cases were
pending before various courts, including
275 cases under the Prevention of
Corruption Act, which were pending
before the courts for more than 20
years. In 2021, the CBI proved its case
Odisha Police destroy one
tonne of seized ganja
before the courts on 202 occasions,
while 82 persons were acquitted, 15
persons were discharged due to lack of
evidence against them, while 61 cases
were disposed of for other reasons.
There were other issues with the
federal probe agency as in many cases
it have failed to furnish the
chargesheet on time. "The CBI is normally
required to complete investigation
in a registered case within one
year. Completion of investigation
would imply filing of chargesheet
wherever warranted after receiving
sanction from the competent authority.
The Commission has observed that
there have been some delays in completing
the investigation in certain
cases," the CVC mentioned in its
report. However, the report said that it
may have happened due to Covid-19,
lack of manpower, work overload and
delay in obtaining responses to Letters
Rogatory (LR), a formal request from
a court to a foreign court for some type
of judicial assistance. Also, there are
around 55 cases which were lodged
against the senior officials of the CBI.
However, the investigation into these
cases have been very slow. Twentyseven
cases out of the 55 are pending
for more than four years before the
agency.
There are 20 other cases lodged
against low-rank officials of the CBI,
which are also pending, including nine
cases pending for more than four
years. This shows that when it comes
to taking action against its own officials,
the CBI goes slow.
High-profile cases where CBI
failed
Sushant Singh Rajput case: The
CBI has failed to complete its investigation
into the death of Sushant Singh
Rajput, who passed away in June 2020
under mysterious circumstances. His
body was found hanging from the ceiling
fan of his rented accommodation
in Mumbai. The CBI had recreated the
crime scene but the investigation is
still pending.
Arushi Talwar case: Arushi
Talwar and domestic help Hemraj
Banjade were murdered during the
intervening night of May 15 and 16 in
2008. The case was handed over to the
CBI in 2009. The Allahabad High
Court acquitted the accused saying the
evidence was not beyond reasonable
doubt.
2G Case: The CBI had failed to
prove its case in the alleged 2G spectrum
scam that cost the exchequer Rs
176,000 crore. Special Judge O.P.
Saini, who oversaw the trial of all 2G
spectrum cases since early 2011, had
said in 2017 that his seven-year anticipation
for evidence ended "all in
vain" because the case was mainly
based on "rumour, gossip and speculation".
Gunfight breaks out
at J&K's Sopore
Bhubaneswar : Odisha Police have destroyed nearly
one tonne of contraband ganja,
Team AI :
Devinder Chander
Editor-in-chief
Columnists
V.B. Rawat
Farzana Suri
Arun Kumar
Rahul Kumar
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which were seized from the
exclusive possession of
accused persons, police officials
said here on Wednesday.
"Following due procedure
laid down by Orissa High Court
and on the decision of drug disposal
committee led by SP,
Special Task Force (STF),
Bhubaneswar, the drugs were
destroyed at a designated incinerator
in the presence of scientific
officers of state forensic
science laboratory and members
of State Pollution Board,"
the officials from STF said.
The STF had seized the
ganja in August, 2021 and registered
a case against the
accused persons under NDPS
Act, 1985.
The seized drugs were first
certificated by a concerned
court and handed over to the
drug disposal committee for
destruction. This is the first
ever pre-trial disposal case,
they said. In the recent years,
during a drive against narcotics,
especially ganja and
brown sugar by Odisha police,
there has been huge piling up of
seized narcotic drugs.
As the trial of narcotics
cases takes time, these seized
drugs remain stocked at police
stations or court Malkhanas
exposed to all kinds of vulnerabilities.
The piling up of seized
drugs has been a cause of concern
and Supreme Court in the
case of Mohanlal Vs. Union of
India passed a detailed order on
disposal of the seized drugs,
especially emphasising on pretrial
disposal of seized drugs.
However, because of some
procedural and technical ambiguity,
seized drugs could not be
disposed of. In this backdrop,
the STF had approached the
High Court of Orissa with a
prayer for a certain direction to
resolve the issues, informed the
officials.
Finally, on January 31, 2022,
the High Court passed a landmark
judgment directing the
subordinate courts to dispose of
the applications filed under
NDPS Act, 1985 issuing a
detailed SOP in this regard.
Following the SOP, the seized
ganjas were destroyed, they
added.
Srinagar : An encounter started between terrorists and security
forces at Sopore in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district
on Wednesday, police said.
"Encounter has started at Bomai area of Sopore. Security
forces are on the job," police said.
The firefight started after a joint team of security forces got
an input about the presence of terrorists in that area. As they cordoned
it off, the hiding terrorists started firing, drawing retaliation
by the security forces.
On Tuesday three LeT terrorists were killed in an encounter
at Nagbal area in Shopian district.
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