This year, in March, the Anti-Corruption Court in Srinagar sentenced a Police Officer to one year imprisonment for allegations of taking bribes while being posted at Police Station Charar-e-sharief in 2008. This police officer who was then posted as Assistant Sub Inspector -ASI in the police station Charar e sharief was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 under each offence. “If he fails to pay the fine, he will be subjected to an additional month of imprisonment under each offence”, reads the order of the Special Judge Anti Corruption Court Srinagar
Background of the case
This is a 15 years old corruption case wherein a police officer -ASI Mushtaq Ahmad had taken bribe from a person while he was carrying 3 quintals of rice with him. The officer not only took money from him but also took away one quintal of rice as well. On 19th September 2008, a written complaint was filed by the aggrieved before the J&K Anti Corruption Bureau which was then known as State Vigilance Organisation -SVO. The complainant in his written complaint told SVO that ASI Mushtaq Ahmad had intercepted his vehicle while he was transporting three quintals of rice and demanded a bribe of Rs. 500. The ASI accepted the bribe and returned only two quintals of rice. He forcibly kept one quintal of rice for himself. When he was asked to give it back , he asked the aggrieved / complainant to pay a bribe of Rs 1,000. The complainant assured that he would pay Rs 500 instead and ASI agreed. In the meantime, the aggrieved person (complainant) informed the then SVO now called Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). The officers of SVO/ ACB laid a trap and caught ASI Mushtaq Ahmad red-handed while accepting the bribe. The tainted money was recovered from his possession in the presence of witnesses. The said police officer was sent to Central Jail Srinagar recently.
Conviction after 15 years
Martin Luther King rightly said, “Justice delayed is Justice denied.”
If we see a corrupt police officer being put behind bars after 15 years of committing the crime, how can people expect to get justice from the system? The judiciary is not necessarily responsible for these long delays in convictions but the blame is to be put on the Government as there is dearth of Special Anti Corruption Courts in Jammu & Kashmir.
Hundreds of corruption cases are pending in our Anti Corruption courts across J&K and Govt officers who were trapped read handed while accepting money move freely in society. In-fact the J&K Anti Corruption Bureau -ACB has shown good progress in trapping corrupt Govt officials during last 4 years, but when it decades to send the culprits behind bars , it frustrates honest and upright officers in the ACB and public spirited citizens or activists as well.
There are only a handful of designated anti-corruption courts in Srinagar and Jammu. In other districts outside Srinagar and Jammu , the regular district courts perform the work of Anti Corruption courts. The trial in these courts is slow as the judges have to deal with other civil and criminal cases as well.
NCRB Report on Corruption
The corruption cases in J&K saw an increase with 94 cases filed by the J&K Anti Corruption Bureau -ACB under the Prevention of Corruption Act and related sections of Indian Penal Code -IPC last year. As per the official figures made public by National Crime Records Bureau -NCRB there was a continuous decline in the number of corruption cases in J&K between the years 2018 to 2020. These are the figures based on FIRs registered by ACB, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the corruption graph was down between 2018 to 2020 ? In 2018 around 82 cases were filed by J&K ACB, 73 in 2019 and 71 in 2020. In 2021 many corruption cases were registered by ACB and the graph was up to 94. The reason as per my own analysis is that ACB got much activated in 2021-22 and 2022 -23 and continues to lay traps to catch corrupt Govt officials red handed. The corruption cases as per NCRB data includes 29 trap cases , 15 cases of disproportionate assets , 2 cases of criminal misconduct and 48 other cases. The report revealed that 386 cases of corruption were pending in J&K by the end of 2020 besides that four cases were reopened for investigation, two cases were transferred to other agencies. In 29 cases final reports have been submitted, 55 cases have been charge -sheeted and 398 cases were pending by end of year 2021. In 2020 only one person was convicted by the Anti Corruption Court in J&K and was awarded punishment ?
J&K has the least conviction rate
The 2020 NCRB data also reveals that corruption cases in Jammu & Kashmir reported from 2018 to 2020, the conviction rate is more than four times lower than the national average. While the conviction rate of corruption cases under trial at national level was 40.9 % in 2020, the conviction rate of such cases in J&K was only 9 % during this period. In contrast, the 2022 annual report of Central Vigilance Commission -CVC revealed that Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recorded a conviction rate of 67.56% in 2021, compared to 69.83% in 2020. The CBI registered 680 regular cases and 67 preliminary enquiries in 2021, while it had registered 589 regular cases and 87 preliminary enquiries in 2020. In 2021 court judgments were received in 360 cases, which included 202 convictions, 82 acquittals and 15 of discharge from allegations. In 61 matters, cases were disposed of for other reasons. At the end of the year 2021-22, a total of 10,232 cases were pending in different courts. In 2021, investigations were pending in 982 cases, whereas the figure stood at 1,117 the previous year. The probe was finalised in 798 regular cases and 86 preliminary inquiries last year.
Conclusion
As we celebrate Corruption Free J&K week (Bhrashtachar Mukt J&K) between September 4th to 10th , it is the duty of the Govt to make sure special anti corruption courts are set up in every district enabling them to dispose of long pending corruption cases in a time bound manner. Technically the week- long corruption free J&K programme (Brashtachar Mukt J&K) should have been celebrated around December 5th which is commemorated as International Anti- Corruption day. Unfortunately during the last several years hardly any Govt function was held around this date.
I would request authorities to continue this campaign around December as well and make sure slogans and themes on this subject are prepared in local official languages as well like Urdu , Kashmiri and Dogri. The NCRB report on the very low conviction rate of corruption cases in J&K should be an eye opener for the authorities. Corruption in Govt departments like Police , Revenue , Geology and Mining, Rural Development, R&B, and some other departments is seriously affecting our work-culture and governance. During the Corruption Free J&K week , people must be asked to submit corruption related grievances and DCs must hold public meetings hearing cases related to corruption. The J&K Anti Corruption Bureau -ACB is doing an appreciable job and trapping corrupt officials on a regular basis. We have seen several Govt officials trapped by ACB in Bandipora and Baramulla districts recently while accepting bribes. It is now the time to file cases against those corrupt Govt servants who have amassed huge wealth which is disproportionate to the known sources of their income.
Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer
- Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow. He is Founder and Chairman Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement
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