108 convicted on bribery charges

Even as the conviction rate of the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has fallen down by six per cent this year (23%) as compared to the rate of conviction last year (26%), a former senior ACB official said the silver lining is that more number of accused got convicted this year due to speedy disposal of cases. Last year, about 67 persons were convicted, while till this December, about 108 have been convicted on bribery charges.

Former director general, ACB, Praveen Dixit had taken up the issue of increasing the number of courts trying ACB cases with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis last year. Later, the courts trying ACB cases were increased from 84 to 160. The rise in the number of courts enabled speedy disposal of trials this year with double the number of cases completing trials. About 471 cases completed trials this year, while last year the figure stood at 229.

One of the major reasons cited by ACB for cases resulting in acquittals was their long pendency in courts. About 3,251 bribery cases are pending in courts. In this 1,056 cases are from 2014, while 356 are from 2015. Most of the cases from this year are under investigation. About 1,597 cases have been pending from 2007 to 2013. Another 232 cases were pending between 1996 and 2006. Remaining 10 cases are pending prior to this period with the oldest dating back to 1986.

Under the leadership of Mr Dixit, the number of cases of allegedly corrupt officials booked rose over 100 per cent in 2014 and the rate of traps remained the same till the end of 2015. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, Maharashtra had recorded the maximum number of corruption cases this year.