Lagatar24 Desk
Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court has directed the head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to complete all pending preliminary inquiries (PEs) within three months, while deciding a suo motu PIL on speeding up the disposal of such cases.
Six-Month Cap, Extension Only With Recorded Reasons
A division bench headed by Chief Justice M.S. Sonak said the period of a preliminary inquiry can be extended up to six months. If an inquiry needs to run beyond six months, the agency must record its reasons, and the period cannot be extended without doing so. The court has asked the ACB to submit a status report on pending preliminary inquiries after six months and disposed of the PIL. The bench had earlier reserved its verdict in the matter.
Intervenor Cited Inquiries Pending for Over 11 Years
At an earlier hearing, the intervenor told the court that several preliminary inquiries in the ACB have been pending for more than 11 years. Many people have retired while the inquiries against them remained pending, and they are facing various hardships as a result. Some inquiries have been pending since 2013 and 2022.
