BHOPAL (Madhya Pradesh): The Special Police Establishment (SPE) of the State Lokayukta has been waiting for years for the state government's nod to prosecute eight retired IAS officers in different cases of alleged graft.
While the permission comes through in many cases, in some the request is kept pending for years. Prosecution approval has not been given in as many as 25 cases registered against retired IAS officer Ramesh Thete. The cases pertain to his tenure as additional commissioner Ujjain.
Apart from these, there is a case against Akhilesh Shrivastava and Shivpal Singh, when the duo had served as collectors of Bhind district. The case was registered against them in 2014, and the request for prosecution permission is pending since 2019.
There are four cases against the then commissioner of Gwalior Municipal Corporation Vivek Singh. The cases were registered in 2013 and prosecution permission is pending from 2022.
Four IAS officers who served as collector Ujjain including Ajatshatru Shrivastava, Brij Mohan Sharma and Kavindra Kiyawat - and also the then director of civil aviation Arun Kochar (retired) have been prima facie found guilty by the Lokayukta in Ujjain airstrip case.
Clipping the wings
Section 17A of the PC Act provides that no enquiry or inquiry or investigation shall be conducted by a police officer into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the PC Act without prior approval from appropriate authority. Officials of the anti-corruption agencies say that the provision 'clips the wings'of Lokayukta and EOW as most of the cases are not taken to their logical conclusion for want of prosecution permission.
