The State Vigilance Directorate registered 575 criminal cases against 1,099 persons, including 162 Class-I officers, 104 Class-II officers in 2016. Vigilance Director RP Sharma reviewed the cases recently and it came to notice that Vigilance also registered cases against 833 Class-III employees during the period, said official sources.
They said that out of these cases, 119 cases were instituted for possession of disproportionate assets amounting to Rs115, 52,41,333 (as per FIR) by 127 public servants and 50 private persons. likewise, 233 trap cases have been instituted against 248 public servants and seven private persons for accepting illegal gratification from the complainants amounting to Rs33,22,505, they added. Notably, out of the 119 disproportionate assets cases, the amount of disproportionate assets, as per FIR, is more than Rs one crore in 35 cases while the bribe money in seven Trap Cases is over Rs one lakh, the sources said adding the investigating agency also arrested 334 persons, incluing 36 Class-I officers.
The State Vigilance also registered 74 cases relating to allotment of plots by the BDA, CDA and Housing Board in 2016. According to the sources, during this period as many as 661 file enquiries were initiated against 730 persons, which include 74 Class-I officers and enquiry in respect of 592 files were disposed of basing on which 270 criminal cases were registered.
During this period, 192 cases were disposed of by the Trial Courts, out of which, 83 cases ended in conviction, 95 cases ended in acquittal and 18 cases were abetted or dropped. The conviction percentage is around 47 per cent, the sources added.During this period, both the Special Courts disposed of eight cases, out of which, five ended in conviction, two in acquittal and one case was abated, the sources said.
The Vigilance Department has initiated confiscation proceedings of disproportionate assets in 14 cases, the sources claimed. The Sales Tax wing detected 48 tax evasion cases and collected Rs2036.02 lakhs as tax and penalty during the past year while the Forest Wing conducted 110 joint raids and seized illegal timber and other forest produces worth over Rs.2.86 crore, the sources said.