While the Judiciary saw a decrease in the number of pending cases, the Office of the Attorney General or the OAG prosecuted over 100 cases more than in 2021. The OAG saw almost 700 cases referred from the Royal Bhutan Police, Anti Corruption Commission, and various government agencies last year. The RBP, referred over 600 cases to the OAG followed by the ACC with 27 cases and nine referrals from government agencies.
The 623 cases referred by the RBP involved over 1,100 defendants. Referrals from the Anti-Corruption Commission saw 130 defendants, and cases with government agencies had 31 defendants.
The OAG also restituted over Nu 44 M collected from embezzlement cases to the government.
On the other hand, almost Nu 12 M was compensated to victims of different cases prosecuted by the OAG. The amount was collected from the culprits.
The report also stated that the OAG restituted 1.1 acres of land to victims involved in land-grabbing cases.
Regarding encroachment of government land, the OAG restituted almost four acres of government land and declared it as Government Forest Reserve.
The office also dealt with driving license forgery cases. According to the report, 27 professional driving licenses were cancelled last year.
The annual report also stated that 19 minors who came in conflict with the law were also sent for community service and rehabilitation.
The report also stated a staggering increase in the number of drug trafficking cases last year.
According to an official from the OAG, the relaxation of Covid restrictions was one of the main reasons for the rise in drug trafficking cases.
Of the 94 ACC referred cases handled by the OAG last year, two are pending since 2016, five cases are pending since 2018, 13 since 2019, and nine cases are pending since 2020.
Tshering Deki & Ugyen Dorji
Edited by Sherub Dorji
