CBI closed record 174 cases in 2024 for lack of evidence
Prior to 2024, CBI’s closure reports ranged between 30 and 60 cases every year, including 62 in 2023 and 32 in 2022.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed closure report in at least 174 cases for lack of evidence in 2024, the highest ever in a calendar year by the agency, which has recently asked all its units to reduce pendency by finalising case files instead of sitting on them, the latest data compiled by the federal agency shows.
Prior to 2024, CBI’s closure reports ranged between 30 and 60 cases every year, including 62 in 2023 and 32 in 2022.
Some of the prominent cases closed last year include a 2017 probe against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel (now with NCP-SP) into alleged irregularities in the leasing of aircraft by National Aviation Corporation of India Ltd (NACIL); a 2017 probe against former Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan over diversion of forest land for a steel plant in Jharkhand; a 2017 case against NDTV founders Prannoy and Radhika Roy for allegedly causing a loss of ₹48 crore to ICICI Bank; and a 2022 case of betting in Indian Premier League’s 2019 season.
An officer requesting anonymity said CBI director Praveen Sood directed all units of the agency last year to “scavenge” the cases that needed winding up and finalise them at the earliest — by either filing charge sheet(s) or closure report(s).
This resulted in the agency disposing of a record 1,467 cases (1,293 charge sheets and 174 closure reports) in 2024. “We never crossed the figure of finalising 1,000 cases in a year previously. It is the first time that our net outflow of completing investigation in cases related to corruption, economic offences, and heinous crimes is more than the inflow,” the officer said.
In 2023 and 2022, CBI disposed of investigation in 588 and 585 cases, respectively.
Normally, CBI is required to complete investigation within a year of the registration of a case. However, probes are delayed due to excessive workload, delay in receiving documents or response from concerned authorities or foreign countries, complex documentary evidence that takes time in verification — particularly in high-value bank frauds —, and time taken in tracing witnesses or suspects, a second officer said, also declining to be named.
“CBI cases are complicated and involve voluminous documents and large number of witnesses. Some cases have been pending for 5-10 years. But now, director CBI has made it clear that we need to clear the deadwood if we want to increase the efficiency of the agency,” the second officer said.
According to CBI data, at the end of 2022 and 2023, the number of cases pending investigation before the agency stood at 692 and 658, respectively. It came down to 622 last year despite registration of 845 new cases — up from 500-700 cases being lodged a year earlier.
Another area where the federal agency improved its performance in 2024 was in completing case trials. CBI’s prosecution wing managed to dispose of trials in 644 cases last year, compared to an average of 500 during previous years.
For this, officials credited the increase in the strength of prosecutors, who conduct trial in various courts across India. The agency has hired 45 new public prosecutors, seven assistant public prosecutors and 60 special public prosecutors in 2024, taking the number of total prosecutors to 300.
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