BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to improve conviction in corruption cases, the Vigilance Directorate will soon appoint legal experts to supervise investigators and prosecutors across the state.Sources said the government has approved a proposal to appoint one legal consultant each for the eight Vigilance divisions in the state.
At present, the Vigilance Directorate at Cuttack has a legal advisor who is in the rank of a district judge. “The government has sanctioned eight posts of legal experts and they will be posted in Vigilance’s divisional offices,” said a senior officer.
The Directorate also recently appointed prosecution liaison officers to improve conviction rate. One liaison officer each has been appointed in 21 Vigilance courts across the state. “They are acting as watchdogs of any gaps during trial of corruption cases in the courts which may affect the end result,” said the senior officer.
Earlier, few Vigilance courts in the state had prosecution liaison officers. Sources said the liaison officers monitor happenings inside courts on a real-time basis and also give feedback on loopholes, if any, to the senior officers in the Vigilance Directorate.
The prosecution liaison officers can now take the assistance of legal experts to improve the conviction rate of corruption cases. Last year, Vigilance had succeeded in securing 77 per cent conviction of disproportionate assets (DA) cases, which was one of the best in the country.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will administer integrity pledge (circulated by Central Vigilance Commission) from Lok Seva Bhawan to officials working in government offices/PSUs and people of the state at 11 am on Monday on Vigilance Awareness Week, which will be observed between October 30 and November 5 with the theme - ‘Say no to corruption, commit to the nation’.
The Electronics and IT department will connect all collectorates and block offices via video-conferencing for government officials to take the integrity pledge.During the awareness week, Vigilance has planned to extensively use social media platforms like WhatsApp, emails and electronic/print media to generate anti-corruption awareness among the people.
As part of the event, bulk SMSes mentioning Vigilance’s toll free number 1064 will also be circulated among crores of mobile users in the state in a bid to enhance its usage by the general public.
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