Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Thursday said the State government was strengthening judicial infrastructure for expeditious disposal of vigilance cases.
“The government has established a chain of 15 special vigilance courts in the State to expedite the trial of corruption cases. This year, two new courts of special judge, vigilance have started functioning at Phulbani and Baripada,” Mr. Patnaik said addressing State level Vigilance Week Celebration here.
Stating that the government was according paramount importance to the maintenance of the highest standards of integrity amongst senior public servants, he said, “Odisha is the first State in the country to enact the Special Courts Act. Under this Act, two special courts have been established at Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. So far, 157 cases of corruption have been transferred to these special courts for expeditious trial and 15 accused persons holding high public offices have been convicted.”
“During the past 5 years, as many as 424 public servants have been convicted by the vigilance courts and 145 public servants have been dismissed from service on grounds of corruption. The continued emphasis on effective prosecution in courts has started yielding dividends, and I am happy to learn that conviction percentage in Vigilance cases has reached a record 58 per cent this year, which is much better than all other cases,” Chief Minister said.
Two courts of authorised officer have been set up at Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to try confiscation proceedings under this Act, and 97 confiscation proceedings had been initiated in these courts, Mr. Patnaik said.
“In 17 out of the aforesaid 97 confiscation proceedings, the authorised officers have passed final orders for confiscation of the properties of senior public servants. It is a matter of immense satisfaction that our pioneering efforts have received nation-wide recognition and the State governments of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have enacted similar legislation based on the Odisha Special Courts Act.”
Chief Minister administered an oath to all present on the occasion. He awarded 27 prizes to best performing divisions and officers of the Vigilance Department. Chief Secretary J. K. Mohapatra focused on the negative of corruption on development and social change.
