At least 6,841 corruption cases probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation are pending trial in different courts, the Central Vigilance Commission has said in its annual report.

Of these, 313 cases investigated by the central agency are over 20 years old, 2,039 cases are pending trials for between 10 years and 20 years, and 2,324 cases for between five years and 10 years.

A total of 12,408 appeals and revisions in the corruption cases are also pending in high courts and the Supreme Court, the report said. Of these, 417 appeals are pending in the high courts for more than 20 years.

The Central Vigilance Commission added that 692 cases are yet to be looked into by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

“Normally, it is required by the CBI to complete an investigation within one year of registration of a case,” the anti-corruption watchdog said. “Completion of investigation would imply filing of chargesheets in courts, wherever warranted, after receipt of sanction from the competent authority.”

The commission observed that the delay in finishing investigations was because of excessive work, lack of manpower, time required for verification of documents, delay in obtaining reports from forensic laboratories, among other reasons.

Further, the Central Vigilance Commission said that 52 cases of departmental action are pending against Group A officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation themselves.

Of these, 23 cases are pending for more than four years, five between three to four years, seven between two and three years, nine between one year to two years, and eight for less than a year, according to the report.

Also read:

Caged parrot v2: How Modi government has weaponised the CBI to target the Opposition