Orissa's anti-corruption wing has referred at least 32 cases of disproportionate assets cases to Enforcement Directorate (ED), official sources said.
"This is for the first time that the vigilance department in the state has referred cases to ED. Though the move was challenged in the high court, the order came in favour of the department," Anup Kumar Patnaik, director of vigilance, Orissa, said.
As per the Prevention of Money Laundering Act as amended in 2009 for confiscation of ill-gotten money, an inquiry will be conducted on how black money was being converted into white money.
Speaking on occasion of Vigilance Awareness Week-2010, Patnaik said besides investigating into the multi-crore mining scam, health scam involving World Bank funds, rural housing scam, the department had so far registered 82 cases against 37 IAS officers, 7 IPS officers, 23 IFS officers.
"During last five years up to October 20, 2010, vigilance has registered 1981 cases against government employees including 440 Class-I officers, 424 Cl-II, 1742 Cl-III, 60 Cla-IV besides 338 public servants and 820 private persons," Patnaik said.
Refuting allegation that the anti-corruption wing had spared "big fishes," (senior officers), Patnaik claimed that 94 class-I, 63 Cl-II officers were booked by the department in different corruption cases.
The department also ensured that guilty persons were convicted, he said pointing out that during the last five years, 282 cases ended in conviction in which 17 class-I, 46 class-II, 274 class-III, 8 class-IV government employees, 16 public servants and 27 private persons had been convicted.
"Rate of conviction in this period was 41 per cent, much higher than the national average," Patnaik claimed. At least 17 government servants had been dismissed from service after they were convicted in the court.
In 2010, 184 persons arrested and forwarded to the court include 19 class-I officers, 16 class-II officers, 120 class-III, 4 class-IV, 10 public servants and 15 private persons, they said.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik who addressed the gathering called upon people to come forward in exposing the corrupt elements.
"While the state is marching ahead in all sphere of development, it is more important to ensure that corrupt practice do not derail the process of economic growth," he said.