Corruption cases from 1983 still pending; do not allow unnecessary adjournments: Madras High Court to judicial officers

The Madras High Court recently expressed its shock over a report submitted by the Tamil Nadu government that revealed that over 1,600 cases of corruption by public servants, some dating back to the year 1983, were pending before lower courts across the State..Justice SM Subramaniam called on courts to refrain from granting repeated adjournments and to make sincere efforts to complete the trials, especially in cases of corruption where public money was involved. "Priority is to be given to the corruption cases, which are all pending for long years. The Judicial Officers are bound to proceed with the trial without granting any unnecessary adjournments in corruption cases. Adjournments are to be granted only on genuine grounds and it could not be granted in a routine manner. Adjournment is an exception and proceeding with the case is the Rule," the Court said in its order..The Court passed the order while considering a plea moved by a man who worked as a bus conductor and later, a senior driver with the State Transport Department. However, in 2003, he was booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Even though he since retired from service, the criminal case against him was pending for the past 19 years without even charges having been framed against him and 52 other persons who were accused in the case. In his plea, he told the Court that while some of the accused continued to remain absconding, several others had died..In response to a query from the Court, the State authorities submitted that 1,653 cases of corruption registered from 1983 to 2021 were pending before the lower courts in the State. Of these, 1,153 cases were from the years between 2011 and 2021. The State also said that often, the delay was caused as the cases were not heard on a day-to-day basis and then witnesses would have to be examined after long gaps. In cases of the death of the accused, the proceedings against them had to be abated and that caused further delay. The State also said that number of pending cases increased because during the two years of COVID, the regular pace of work could not be adhered to by courts. The High Court, however, said that such delay will defeat the whole purpose of the anti-corruption laws and called for putting a stop to the system of using adjournments for protracting trials or bench hunting. "If trial is allowed to go on in this manner, this Court is afraid that all these cases will end in vain without any fruitful results. The very purpose and object of the Prevention of Corruption Act will be defeated. Large scale corrupt activities are in the public domain. Public Servants are of the opinion that they can escape from the clutches of the Prevention of Corruption Act since the proceedings are kept pending for years together without any progress," the High Court said. .In the present case, the Court noted that the framing of charges was scheduled for December 15, this year. The Court recorded the said submission and disposed of the petition..[Read Order]