Sun Aug 31 07:28:46 UTC 2025: **Summary:**
A recent Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) report reveals a significant backlog in corruption cases probed by the CBI across Indian courts. As of December 31, 2024, 7,072 cases were pending trial, with a concerning number dragging on for over a decade. Furthermore, over 13,000 appeals related to CBI cases are stuck in High Courts and the Supreme Court. While the CBI registered a high number of cases in 2024 and completed investigations in over a thousand, a considerable number remain pending, citing reasons like workload, manpower shortage, and delays in obtaining international responses and prosecution sanctions. The CVC has called on the CBI to speed up investigations in corruption cases.
**News Article:**
**CVC Report Highlights Massive Backlog in CBI Corruption Cases; Thousands Languish in Indian Courts**
**New Delhi, August 31, 2025:** A recently released report by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has exposed a significant backlog of corruption cases investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), raising concerns about the pace of justice in India. The report, covering the year 2024, reveals that a staggering 7,072 corruption cases probed by the CBI remain pending trial in various courts across the country. Shockingly, 379 of these cases have been languishing for over 20 years.
The CVC report also highlights that of these 7,072 cases, 2,660 have been pending for more than 10 years as of the end of 2024.
The report further reveals a bottleneck in the appellate process, with 13,100 appeals and revisions filed by both the CBI and the accused stuck in various High Courts and the Supreme Court. Hundreds have been pending for more than 15 years.
While the CBI registered 807 cases in 2024, including bribery and disproportionate assets, and completed investigations in 1,005 cases, the number of pending investigations remains a concern. As of the end of 2024, 832 cases were pending investigation, with many exceeding the CVC’s suggested one-year investigation timeline.
The CVC report points to several reasons for these delays, including excessive workload, inadequate manpower, difficulties in obtaining responses to Letters Rogatory (international requests for assistance), and delays in granting prosecution sanctions by relevant authorities. The report also cites the time-consuming nature of scrutinizing voluminous records, particularly in economic offenses and bank fraud cases, as well as the challenges of locating and examining witnesses in remote areas.
The CVC, which oversees the CBI in corruption-related matters, has emphasized the importance of expediting investigations and called on the CBI to address the identified challenges to ensure timely justice in corruption cases. The findings of this report are likely to fuel further debate and scrutiny of the CBI’s operations and the efficiency of the Indian judicial system in combating corruption.
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