On Thursday, the Anti Corruption Bureau trapped and arrested a junior assistant while taking a bribe of Rs 60,000. The significance of this case is that the clerk was working in the office of divisional commissioner Kashmir. This by no means puts a question mark on the office itself but speaks about the audacity of the officials who dare to indulge in such abhorred and illegal practices in the highest office of the province.
Kashmir has by the way already surpassed Jammu region as far as corruption cases registered by Anti-Corruption Bureau are concerned. In the first seven months of the current year, as per a local news agency, the anti-graft body has registered 64 cases of corruption from the Kashmir region while 19 such cases have been reported from Jammu Division.
ACB Police Station in Srinagar (central Kashmir) which covers Srinagar, Budgam and Gandarbal districts has registered 30 corruption cases which are the highest in the Valley, followed by 22 in Baramulla (north Kashmir) which includes Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara. Anantnag (south Kashmir) has reported 13 cases.
The data available on ACB website reveals that 19 cases of corruption have been reported from the Jammu division. Among these 19 cases, 11 have been registered by ACB Jammu including Samba and Kathua) followed by 5 by ACB Doda (Doda, Ramban and Kashtward), and 2 by Udhampur (Udhampur and Reasi), and 1 in Rajouri (Poonch, Rajouri).
ACB has arrested and registered cases against different officials, some among them the top ones from Kashmir Valley.
Recently a first-class executive magistrate (Tehsildar) was apprehended along with his clerk while demanding and accepting the bribe. Some top engineers and revenue officials have also been trapped by the ACB.
The data reveals that more and more officials and government employees’ resort to malpractices, devising ways and means to earn quick bucks.
The government needs to strengthen its prosecution wings so that the culprits are convicted in the designated court rather than getting escape routes because of the loopholes in the chargesheets filed against them.
A strong case against such crooks can fetch them quantifiable sentences that can eventually act deterrence against the menace of corruption.
