580 corruption cases registered this year

A total of 583 cases of corruption were registered till Nov 30 this year under the Prevention of Corruption Act, parliament was informed Wednesday.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that a total of 2,536 cases of corruption have been registered since 2010 till Nov 30.

Citing data provided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Shukla said that at least 650 cases were registered in 2010 under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, while there was a slight fall in 2011 with 600 cases.

In 2012, the number of corruption cases reached a high with the registration of 703 cases, he said.

"There is no definite trend discernible in the data," the government said.

Shukla said investigation and registration of cases under the Act was being done by the CBI at the central level and by police and anti-corruption bureaus at the level of the state government.

"The conviction rate of CBI during 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 (up to Oct 31) was 71.9 percent, 64.7 percent, 67 percent and 72.73 percent respectively," said Shukla.

Shukla said the government has taken steps to combat corruption.

"Enactment of the Right to Information Act, 2005, issue of comprehensive instructions on transparency in tendering and contracting process by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), issue of citizen charters, ratification of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2011 and setting up of additional CBI courts in different states are some of the steps," said Shukla.

Besides this, Shukla said the government has also introduced other legislation in parliament for effectively tackling corruption.

The legislations were the Lokpal and Lokayuktas bill 2011, the whistle-blowers protection bill 2011, the prevention of bribery of foreign public officials and officials of public international organisation bill 2011, the right of citizens for time-bound delivery of goods and services and redressal of grievances bill 2011, the public procurement bill 2012 and the prevention of corruption (amendment) bill 2013.