New Delhi: In a bid to crack down on corrupt babus in the country, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has advised sanction of prosecution against 34 senior officials of various Central ministries and departments in the last one month alone. The suspected role of these officials is being probed by the CBI in several corruption cases.
According to sources, prosecution sanctions have also issued by the competent authorities to the CBI in respect of eight officials, including two IAS officers.
Besides, the anti-corruption watchdog has advised initiation of major penalty proceedings against 190 officials of Central ministries and departments in the country.
“The concerned departments and ministries will soon initiate penalty proceedings against the officials,” sources said.
Recently, the CVC asked chairmen and managing directors of all Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), including those of navratnas and maharatnas, to hand over cases involving financial fraud to the CBI only. Taking instances of some CPSEs referring cases, involving high-value frauds, to the local police, the CVC instructed public sector undertakings to refer all incidents — involving transactions up to Rs 25 lakh and above — to the CBI.
The commission also asked chief vigilance officers (CVOs) of all CPSEs to interact with CBI sleuths on regular basis and share quarterly reports of their respective organisations with the CBI.
“The CVOs of the CPSEs are required to interact frequently and exchange information with the CBI on a quarterly basis,” the order issued by the CVC in this regard said.
The CVC, in terms of its powers under Section 8(1) of the CVC Act-2003, exercises its function of superintendence over the vigilance administration of the CPSEs.
The CVC noticed instances of some CPSEs referring cases — prima facie involving criminal offences, financial irregularities and high-value frauds — to the local police instead of the CBI, sources said. The commission has now advised all CPSEs to strictly adhere to the laid-down procedure and principles as in the special chapter for vigilance management in CPSEs.
