Hyderabad: The Telangana state government has not appointed regular staff for the TS Tribunal for Disciplinary Proceedings and this is only helping crooked officials facing charges in various scams to go scot-free.
The liquor scam cases are a classic example. Forty-eight cases have been pending since 2010. A whopping 1,119 officials and 194 liquor syndicate members have been named in the cases but the tribunal has no judicial officer and no staff to conduct hearings.
These officials have already escaped criminal prosecution as the state government has opted for disciplinary proceedings instead, but even this punishment has been kept in abeyance.
ACB had recommended prosecution
The seven-year pendency of proceedings in the liquor cases came to light after retired IFS officer M. Padmanabha Reddy put in an RTI query which was replied to by the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Tribunal for Disciplinary Proceedings.
There are several other such scams where officers involved are carrying on business as usual.
“No regular judicial officer has been posted as third member for the Tribunal for Disciplinary Proceedings in Telangana state from July 2, 2014, except for a very short period of two months. Technical posts like typists and senior steno of the tribunal have been vacant from July 2, 2014. There is delay in inquiry of the cases. Even if a regular judicial officer is appointed by the High Court till the vacant technical posts are permitted to be filled up, the judicial officer cannot frame charges and take up further enquiry with just the present available staff of a senior assistant, a junior assistant and a record assistant and three office subordinates,” said the reply from the PIO.
The RTI query also elicited the information that inquiry was in progress in six liquor scam cases, and in eight cases charges were framed against the accused officials. In the remaining 18 cases charges have not yet been framed
Mr Padmanabha Reddy said that the cases were booked in 2010 by the special investigation team of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which recommend the prosecution of the officials. “Only some of them were allowed by government to be prosecuted; others were referred to different agencies like the Commission of Inquiries (16 cases), Tribunal for Disciplinary Proceedings third member (20 cases) and Departmental inquiry (nine cases). Around 20 cases have been prosecuted in the court of the special judge in Karimnagar,” Mr Reddy said. He added that “Departmental inquiry is an eye-wash.”
Liquor scam
- ACB: 48 cases
- Revenue (excise): 896 officials
- Home: 247 officials
- GAD: One official
- Labour: One official
- Total: 1,118
