The Central Vigilance Commission recommended major penalty proceedings against over 1600 central government officers in the last three years, according to data from the ministry of personnel, pensions and public grievances.
The ministry, headed by V Narayanasamy, however, did not give the details of how many of these recommendations were heeded.
Instead, the ministry redirected Rajya Sabha MP Tariq Anwar’s request for information to the Central Vigilance Commission.
Meanwhile, a report on the Commission’s website notes that the Department of Revenue, which deals with all kinds of central taxes such as income tax, has the highest rate of failure in responding to the Commission’s request for sanction to prosecute officers.
The CVC is a built-in anti-corruption body within the central government and must seek sanction or comments from the superiors of the officers before filing a case. The CVC conducts investigations into allegations of corruption and impropriety received by it.
According to its latest list, the Department of Revenue, headed by minister of finance Pranab Mukherjee, has failed to respond to its requests for sanction for prosecution in case of 9 officers.
The officers include the commissioner of income tax in Ahmedabad, a Jt. Commissioner of Income Tax, an assistant commissioner of central excise and various others, such as preventive officers, superintendendent of customs etc..
The Department of Revenue was followed by the Department of Expenditures, also within the ministry of finance headed by Pranab Mukherjee. The department has blocked sanction to prosecute two officers, including a director in the ministry.
The Department of Telecom and IT, headed by Kapil Sibal, is yet to get back to the Commission on its request for sanction to prosecute two officials, while the Railways has blocked sanction to prosecute 3 officers.
A total of 29 requests, seeking sanction to prosecute 47 central government officials, have been pending with the government for more than three months, the CVC said. In some cases, the request for sanction was made over three years ago, the chart, updated as of end of January, reveals.
MP Tariq Anwar had asked the government “whether it is a fact that Central Vigilance Commission has sought permission to initiate major penalty proceedings against Government officials involved in corruption cases” and sought the reasons for not granting sanctions.
However, the ministry told the MP in its reply that the CVC “does not seek permission to initiate major penalty proceedings but it advises… on the basis of the enquiry or investigation reports furnished by the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).”
Read the original list of officials on CVC website here
