By IANS,
New Delhi : Get “one solid witness” to prove a corruption case and not a large number of witnesses, which only serves to prolong the trial, Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan Saturday told the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“Instead of having eight to 10 witnesses, the emphasis should be on having one solid witness to prove a (corruption) case,” Balakrishnan said.
He said the CBI’s relying on a large number of witnesses unnecessarily prolongs trials for up to three-four years.
The chief justice was addressing a two-day seminar on Fighting Crimes Related to Corruption, aimed at providing a platform for interaction among the functionaries of the criminal justice system in corruption cases.
To fight corruption, Balakrishnan said a statutory provision should be made to seize illegal properties and assets of convicted corrupt government officials.
“If a public official amasses wealth at the cost of public, then the state is justified in seizing such assets,” Balakrishnan said.
“One prominent suggestion is the inclusion of a statutory remedy that will enable confiscation of properties belonging to persons who are convicted of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.”
Balakrishnan regretted that procedural delays in granting sanction and difficulties in getting large number of witnesses were among the major hurdles in convictions. The CBI, he said, was already finding it difficult to grapple with 9,000 pending cases due to shortage of designated courts.
“It is necessary (to have) a speedy manner of granting sanction. The prosecution becomes ineffective if the sanction is granted after six-seven years,” he said.
The conference is being jointly organised by the National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences (NICFS) and the CBI.
Supreme Court and Delhi High Court judges and legal luminaries, including over 60 special judges dealing with anti-corruption cases from the entire country, attended in the seminar.