There has been a massive rise in the number of public servants, including bureaucrats and police officers, being booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the last three years. A jump of 44 percent has been recorded in cases involving such officials, registered by the premier anti-corruption agency, shows data shared by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
This data comes in the wake of the CBI arresting four people, including three officials from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, in a case of corruption and bribery on Saturday. The central agency seized Rs 60 lakh in cash from the accused.
According to the data, the CBI has booked more than 2,000 public servants in the last three years. In 2020, a total of 608 officials and police officers were booked in different cases of corruption but this figure witnessed a marginal dip to 582 in 2021. But, in 2022, a total of 844 public servants were booked from the Centre, states and union territories.
The data shows that some are very senior officers, facing allegations of corruption. But, more importantly, the rising number of public servants facing cases has been noticed despite the CBI facing prosecution sanctions in nine states.
States that have withdrawn general consent to the CBI to probe cases include opposition-ruled states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, and West Bengal.
The conviction rate, which remains a talking point in political circles, has also gained pace, especially after the “CBI versus CBI” controversy. The data also showed that after a dip, the conviction rate increased in 2022 and reached close to 75 percent. Earlier, from 2018 to 2021, this had not even touched 70 percent.
The CBI recently filed an FIR in a case of alleged sexual assault in Manipur’s Thoubal district, where two women were stripped and paraded naked. A video of the incident, purportedly shot on May 4, went viral earlier this month resulting in massive uproar across the country.
The CBI has registered a case for murder, gang rape, outraging modesty and criminal assault, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and IT Act. The central agency registered the case after the Home Ministry transferred the Manipur video case and filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court on the ethnic violence in the northeastern state that began on May 3.
This article first appeared here on News18.com. 
