Bhubaneswar: Economic crimes are on the rise across the country, including Odisha, while the punishment is very low. The conviction rate in cases of economic offences across the country is 32.6 per cent while it is the lowest at 2 per cent in Gujarat. In Assam, the conviction rate in such cases is 4.9 per cent, while in Odisha it is 5.8 per cent. This was revealed in the central government’s NCRB report.
States like Tripura, Meghalaya, Maharashtra and Karnataka have a conviction rate of less than 10 per cent. Mizoram has the highest conviction rate of 89.5 per cent in cases of economic offences. Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh and Bihar are among the states where the conviction rate in such cases is more than 5 per cent.
According to the report, at the beginning of 2023, there were 7,42,060 cases of economic offences pending across the country, while the number of pending cases in Odisha was 28,776. In states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, lakhs of cases of this type are pending. In the year 2022, 40,488 cases of economic offences were disposed of across the country, of which 10,575 were punishable. Of the 335 cases disposed of in Odisha in the same year, only 19 were punished and 306 were acquitted.
The rate of disposal of cases of economic offences is 5.2 per cent across the country while it is 1.2 per cent in Odisha. Overall, in 2022, 94.8 per cent of the total cases of economic offences pending across India were pending cases in the following year, while in Odisha, 98.8 per cent of the total cases remained disposed of. However, it is reassuring for Odisha that states like Bihar, Manipur and Uttarakhand have a conviction rate of less than 1 per cent, while in Pudichori, Delhi, West Bengal, etc., the disposal rate is less than 2 per cent.
Financial fraud crimes are on the rise across the country. Who has cheated someone directly and someone else is cheating crores of rupees through smartphones. Even in the case of cyber crimes, the rate of disposal and conviction is very low, while many people are suffering huge losses by clicking on unknown links of smartphones. While government is creating public awareness through advertisements by spending crores of rupees to avoid such frauds, incidents of financial frauds are being reported in the media almost every day.
From chit funds to providing high-value goods at low prices, selling land and houses, savings deposits are also being cheated. While special courts are being set up in some types of cases for speedy disposal of economic offences, legal experts are of the view that financial crimes are on the rise due to the fact that such cases have been settled over the years and in most cases the accused are absconding.
