A stark warning has been issued by the Forum for Good Governance (FGG) regarding the ‘unacceptable delays’ plaguing anti-corruption cases in Telangana. The FGG cautions that this prolonged stagnation is not only empowering dishonest officials but also significantly eroding public trust in the state’s administrative integrity.
In a recent letter addressed to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, the forum underscored that numerous cases, some stretching back over a decade, remain stubbornly unresolved, even in the face of compelling evidence of corruption.
Consider the infamous liquor scam of 2010: a Special Investigation Team (SIT) uncovered wrongdoing, leading to 67 cases against officials from excise, revenue, and police departments. Astonishingly, thirteen years later, only two of these cases have been finalized (with further action dismissed), leaving a staggering 65 cases still entangled in various stages of legal and departmental processes. Specifically, 22 cases await judgment in the Special Court, 15 are before the Commissioner of Enquiry, 20 are with the Tribunal for Disciplinary Proceedings, and 10 are stuck in departmental inquiries.
The forum’s letter included an RTI response detailing each of these pending cases, providing concrete evidence of the extensive delays.
M. Padmanabha Reddy, president of the FGG, expressed deep concern, stating that this environment has fostered a culture where officials no longer dread Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) raids, even in instances where assets valued at hundreds of crores have been confiscated.
Reddy lamented, ‘The current belief is that these cases will either be dismissed eventually or suffer such severe delays that their substance will be diluted.’ He further identified the Secretariat’s departmental delays as the primary bottleneck preventing swift case resolution.
This phenomenon highlights a broader concern regarding how graft charges in Telangana frequently escape accountability.
Under existing guidelines, officers accused in ‘trap’ and ‘disproportionate assets’ cases are supposed to face prosecution within six months of the case being registered.
The FGG further alleged that strategic manipulations within the Secretariat routinely divert cases away from proper prosecution, shunting them into internal or departmental inquiries that often lead to their quiet closure. ‘This isn’t an anomaly; virtually no ACB case reaches finality within a decade,’ the representation declared, urging the Chief Minister to urgently streamline procedures and ensure that all cases are brought to a resolution within a reasonable two to three-year timeframe.
These staggering delays, the forum emphasized, do more than just obstruct justice; they send a dangerous message to the public, fostering an environment ripe for unchecked corruption across all government departments.