KOCHI: It seems the recent amendment in the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act has turned the CBI in Kerala toothless. The agency has registered a low number of corruption cases this year and it is learnt CBI officers are finding it tough to cope up with the new amendment which prevents them from conducting even an initial inquiry against a public servant who allegedly indulged in corruption.
Among other things, the newly-inserted Section 17A of the PC Act makes an approval from government mandatory for carrying out any enquiry/inquiry/investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant. It says no police officer shall conduct an inquiry against a public servant, alleged to have indulged in corruption, without the sanction from the Centre or the state government, depending on where the public servant concerned is employed.
The time frame within which the government may give its nod for the inquiry is set at three months, extendable by another month. The only relief is no approval would be necessary if a person is caught red-handed while accepting or attempting to accept any undue advantage for himself or for any other person.
A senior CBI officer who demanded anonymity said the amendment had immensely affected the CBI.
“It is very strange the new amendment even restricts our officers to conduct a preliminary inquiry when any information about corruption is received. Even for the preliminary enquiry, we have to approach the government concerned and again for registering a case. So, the CBI would have to wait for the decision of the government, which may take up to four months., By then, the corrupt officer will find a way to beat a probe,” the officer said.
The statistics available on the CBI website reveal 2018 is, so far, the year with the lowest number of corruption cases registered by the CBI in Kerala. Till now, only five cases have been registered by the CBI Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Kochi. After the amendment came into force in July, no cases were registered. In contrast, the CBI ACB here had registered 12 cases till October, 2017 and 16 cases in the entire year.
Other CBI ACBs also affected
The situation is same for CBI ACB units across the country. The CBI ACB Chennai, which registered 39 cases last year, only registered 11 this year. An officer with ACB Chennai said the agency was already grappling with officer shortage. “Now, the government has further complicated crime investigation. How can a case be detected without a proper preliminary enquiry?” the officer asked.