Court-referred cases reason behind delay in CBI probe: Govt

A large number of cases referred to the CBI by courts and state governments are behind the delay in timely completion of investigation, the government said today.
A total of 1,369 cases are under investigation, 175 of them for more than two years, with the CBI, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said.
Of the total, highest 800 are pending for less than a year and 394 for between one to two years, he said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
Reasons for the delay include complex and voluminous nature of cases and large number of witnesses, the minister said.

The large number of cases referred by state governments, the Supreme Court and high courts and delay in handing over the cases to CBI for investigation after initial investigation by local police are some of the reasons behind the delay in finalisation of these cases, he said.
Besides these, "stay by courts" and "delay in execution of Letters Rogatory with foreign countries" are also among the reasons.

The non-traceability of accused persons, delay in getting expert opinion and non-appearance of accused persons, and adjournments taken by them on different grounds are also the reasons for delay in CBI probe, Singh said.

He said rigorous monitoring of investigation of cases is done by the CBI and the Central Vigilance Commission.
In another reply, the minister said a total of 791 cases were referred to the CBI during 2014 and June 30, 2017.
Of these, 207 were handed over to CBI in 2014, 326 in 2015, 151 in 2016 and 107 between January and June this year, Singh said.