Members of Parliament in the National Assembly, today, raised concerns over pending corruption cases with the courts. Some of the pending cases date back to 2006. This was highlighted by the Good Governance Committee during deliberations on the action taken report on the resolutions of the Anti-Corruption Commission’s annual report for the fiscal year 2023–2024.
The committee reported that the highest backlog of pending cases was recorded in 2016, with seven cases, followed by five in 2018, and three each in 2014 and 2015.
Currently, 32 cases remain pending with the courts.
Lhakpa Tshering Tamang, one of the Good Governance Committee members, said “There are 32 pending cases and the OAG and ACC have been working on them. However, some individuals are already imprisoned while the cases are still in court. Others, when they are on bail, they have absconded.”
Kuenga, MP, Nyishog-Saephu in Wangdue Phodrang, National Assembly said “If we look at the report, the number of pending cases is around 32. It’s not a huge number, which is a good sign. However, since some of these cases date back to 2006 and 2007, it means the pending corruption cases are more than 20 years old. I would be grateful to know why these cases have remained unresolved for so long.”
Pempa, who is also a member of Good Governance Committee said “It is easy to talk about delays in pending cases, but reviewing them requires budget and infrastructure. Even taking Nu 100 is corruption. However, we must consider the cost of investigation. If we spend over Nu 500,000 to investigate a case involving Nu 100,000, we need to question whether it is justifiable for the country’s economy.”
In the upcoming winter session, the committee will present the government’s efforts to reduce corruption and human resource constraints in ACC, among other follow-up reports.
Sonam Yuden & Tashi Dekar
Edited by Tshering Zam
