Hyderabad: The Anti Corruption Bureau has named 1,118 state government personnel in the liquor syndicate scam that broke out in 2010 in undivided AP. They are being shielded by the government, as are hundreds more by their departments.
Whenever a corrupt officer is trapped, a detailed report is submitted to the department concerned for permission to prosecute the official. The department either objects, keeps the file unattended, or passes it to the Tribunal for Disciplinary Proceedings.
Forum for Good Governance secretary M. Padmanabha Reddy, who has written to the Chief Minister on the issue, said the ACB and other vigilance wings register cases against corrupt officials and submit reports to the respective departments for permission to prosecute the officials.
“In the Secretariat the reports are manipulated and very rarely is the request for prosecution granted,” he said. The report is either returned with objections or kept unattended or sent to the Tribunal for Disciplinary Proceedings, much against the request for permission to prosecute.
“These manipulations are encouraging emplo-yees to resort to corruption. The Secretariat is protecting tainted officials from prosecution,” Mr Padmanabha Reddy said.
When the ACB or the Vigilance Enforcement wing completes an inquiry, the government is supposed to accept it and act accordingly within a month.
The corruption cases should be brought to their logical conclusion in two years. At present, however, this takes anywhere between 10 and 20 years, according to government sources.
In 2010, the undivided AP government ordered an inquiry by an ACB Special Investigation Team into the liquor syndicate scam. The ACB registered 48 cases involving 1,118 officials: 869 from revenue, 247 from home. two from other departments and 174 non-officials.
The affected persons approached the officials and got their names deleted. Permission for prosecution was granted only in a few cases. After two years, the cases were referred to the Tribunal for Disciplinary Proceedings, where the post of member III has been vacant since 2007. These cases are gathering dust.
Prasad Rao, owner of an educational institution in Karimnagar, committed suicide due to alleged harassment by Karimnagar assistant sub-inspector Mohan Reddy. A case under Section 306 was registered on October 29, 2015. Police found that senior police officers were involved and Mohan Reddy was just a pawn.
ACB registered a case of disproportionate assets against Mohan Reddy in 2006 and recommended prosecution. After two years, the file was sent to the Tribunal for Disciplinary Proceedings. When the tribunal requested original records, the department took four years to provide them, In the meantime Mohan Reddy was promoted twice. The ACB states that in spite of protesting, the government did not accord permission to prosecute him.
The commissioner of Kapra municipality had sanctioned construction of a G+1 house in 1997 to one B. Satyavati at Hastinapuri Colony. When it was built, there was up to 100 per cent deviation from the plans and the road was encroached. Planning supervisor M. Shekar Reddy failed to prevent the illegal construction.
The vigilance department submitted a report to the government but no action has been taken. In about 20 cases, the government issued orders proposing inquiries against tainted officials, but the department did not take action. Some officers were promoted, others retired and some died.
In 2010 the vigilance department found hundreds of teachers had produced fake medical reimbursement bills and drawn lakhs of rupees fraudulently. The vigilance department recommended criminal action under Sections 403, 409 and 120 (B) of IPC. At the secretariat, the recommendation of the vigilance department lay unattended and a decision was taken to recover the amount from the teachers.
In 2008, about 2,000 teachers secured promotions by submitting fake MA and B.Ed certificates from private and deemed universities. The Lokayukta, after inquiry, directed the Commissioner of School Education to file criminal cases against the teachers and the DEOs who had promoted them. No action has been initiated.
