corruption in india and laws to keep to a check

8/11/2019 corruption in india and laws to keep to a check

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LAWS PERTAINING TOWIDE SCALE

CORRUPTION IN INDIA

-By Neel Narsinghani


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A project submitted on:

Laws pertaining to wide scale corruption

in India

IN COMPLIANCE TO PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE MARKING

SCHEME, FOR TRIMESTER I OF 2014-2015, IN THE SUBJECT OF

GENERAL ENGLISH

SUBMITTED TO FACULTY:

MS. KAUSHALYA RAJPUROHIT

FOR EVALUATION

SUBMITTED BY:

Neel Narsinghani

BBA LLB (HONS) ROLL NO A055

RECEIVED BY: ____________________________

ON DATE: __________ TIME: _________


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Table of contents:SR.

Number

Particular Page no.

1 Abbreviations 3

2 Introduction

1) Definition2)

Types of corruption3)

Objective of study4)

Significance of study5) Tables of statues covered6) Scope of the study7) Limitations of the study

4-6

3 Literature review1)

In the end India will still be trapped in debt

2)

Corruption and governance in Asia3)

Wide scale corruption in India

7-8

4 Methodology1) Current scenario of corruption in India2)

Cause of corruption in India3) Fighting corruption: An Indian approach4)

Gaps to be filled5) Measures taken by different countries

9-16

5 Conclusion 17

6 Suggestions to fight Corruption 18


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Abbreviations:

ADAnno domini

Corp.Corporation

UN.United Nations

TI.Transparency International

Dr.Doctor

Feb.February

Govt.Government

Hon.The honourable Jr.Junior

No.Number

Art.Article

IPCIndian Penal Code

Rev.Revised

USAUnited States of America Adovc.Advocate

CJ.Chief Justice

J.Justice

UOIUnion of India


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INTRODUCTION

Definition

Corruption is where the I factor over-shines the YOU factor.There is no comprehensive,

and universally accepted definition of corruption. In spite of its prominence through the ages,

corruption remains difficult to define.The origin of the word is from the Latin word corruptus

(spoiled) and corrumpere (to ruin; to break into Pieces).

In a laymans language corruption can be defined as Dishonest or fraudulent conduct by

those in power, for private gain typically involving bribery

According to UN, The working definitions presently in vogue are variations of "The

misuse of a public or private position for direct or indirect personal gain". The world bank uses a straight forward definition the abuse of public office for private

gain

Many attempts to coin a more precise definition encounter legal and in many countries,

political problems.

In the negotiations of UN in 2002, one option under consideration was to avoid the

problem of defining corruption by simply listing a whole series of specific types or acts of

corruption. After discussion corruption remained undefined, but at the same time

repeated examples of what all is covered in corruption by the expression appear

throughout the text.

1

Types of corruption

1) Bribery

Bribery refers to giving considerations or incentive by influencing conduct in ones favor

contrary to standing procedures and regulations.

Bribes accepted by the people in power really reflect how badly people hve fallen, it

marks the destruction of a meritocracy which should be the basis of admissions or

employment.

2) Extortion

Extortion refers to unlawfulsecuring of money or favor by forceor intimidation. It is a

form of blackmail where one party makes threats against another party of adverse

consequences unless demands are met by the other party.

If the party who is the victim of the extortion provides the payment, he may normally

become liable for the offence of bribery. However, the party making the payment may

have a defence if the threat was of imminent death or personal injury.

1 http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bribery-in-india-bribe-republic-anti-corruption-bureau/1/291074.html


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3) Fraud

Fraud usually involves one person (or group of persons) deceiving another person in

order to gain some financial or other advantage. It is sometimes referred to as

deception.4)

Nepotism

Nepotism is the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives

especially by giving them jobs.

Nepotism creeps into each and every line of business, education, politics and social

interaction everyone is aware of the problem, yet very few address it.

The problem is even though only a few people who are in power have the ability to use

nepotism for their personal gain, it's effects are widespread and affect many people.

5) Cronyism

The appointment of friends and associates to positions of authority, without proper

regard to their qualifications. is called cronyism

In modern English the terms Nepotism and cronyism are substituted by many people

but sticking to their original definition the only difference between them is that when

you favour a relative or a family person you have constituted Nepotism and when you

favour a friend or a colleague you have constituted cronyism.

6)

Emblezzlement

Emblezzlement means theft or misappropriation of funds placed in one's trust or

belonging to one's employer.

Objective of the study:

The objective of making this project is to study and research on the current corruption

scenario in the country and how that has affected our economy and what are the laws made

by the government to tackle the disease. I have tried to present some bizarre facts about the

on-going corruption in India and also what are the measures that Govt. should keep in mind

while formulating the laws.

Significance of the study:

Following are the topics that I have tried to cover in the study:

Introduction related to corruption.

Various forms of corruption and their definitions.

Reasons of corruption.

Current scenario of corruption in India.


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Presumed causes of corruption in India.

Steps taken by the Govt. to contain corruption.

Economic costs of corruption.

Suggestions to fight corruption.

Points to be kept in mind while trying to contain corruption.

Tables of statues covered:

IPC, 1860

PCA, 1947

PCA, 1988

The Benami transaction (prohibition) Act, 1988

The Prevention Of Money Laundering Act, 2002

The Prevention Of Corruption Bill, 2013

RTI, 2005

Scope of the study:

This project covers various data mentioned in the books, internet and databases. Through this

study I have tried to collect all the relevant information relating to corruption and the anti-

corruption laws in India. All of the study has relied on the second hand methods ofresearching.

Limitation of the study:

There are several limitations of this project too because I am not able to cover the entire topic

and depth study of all the areas. Some portions of the corruption and the anti-corruption laws

are not covered under this project.The project fails to conduct a primary research thorough

examination, interviews and surveys due to lack of time. The research of the project limits to

books and internet content.


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Literature review:

In the end, India will still be trapped in debt-ByJehangirPocha (Editor in chief, The Sunday Guardian.)

Form the above mentioned article it could be interpreted that India is now Neck-Deep

into debt &corruption and there is absolutely no way that India is recovering from it.

This may be of no surprise to many of the readers, but most part of the population is

under the impression that we are a self-reliant country. India has lots of debt to be paid

off, and it has now reached a point that we have to borrow money only to pay the

interest of the money we have borrowed in the past few years.2

One of the chief reasons of India being in such a pathetic state is Corruption. There

are no two views on the statement that the economic conditions will improve if stringent

laws are enacted, but then, even if such laws are presented in the parliament they are not

passed by it. The PCA 2013 being passed easily and the Lokpal not getting a nod only

proves our inability to form such laws that could prove helpful in containing corruption.

Corruption and governance in Asia

-By John B. Kidd

In the above mentioned book, the author tried to explain the corruption scenario in many

countries of Asia, what measures the countries took to bring about a change in the system,who were the people who brought the change and how did the measures improve the

scenario. But the question is, can that change be translated in case of other countries?

Well, there is a no straight forward answer to this question. In some cases yes and in the

others it may not be possible. It all depends upon a few factors like size of the country,

population etc. For example, the policy that was adopted by Singapore and japan to contain

corruption may not work on a very in huge and highly populated country like India.

The best way to contain corruption is to have citizens with proper morals and understanding

of the post effects of the small corrupt practices that some may engage on daily basis.

Wide scale corruption in India:

-by ByPratishthaKaura

With new scams adding to the current list of scams every day, the list doesnt seem to end.

Corruption, which is due to the greed of man has been rising and there are hardly any

measures to contain it. Even though the memories of the scams may fade, but the bruises will

stay. The increasing corruption of India has increased the frustration of the people, and this

was witnessed when Anna Hazare with his thousands of supporters came to streets and sat on

2http://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/in-the-end-india-will-still-be-trapped-in-debt


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a fast. Even the demand of having a Lokpal bill to check corruption, both at centre and the

state level was an example of how frustrated the people are. People have taken some

initiatives to fight against corruption through websites and social media activism

likeipaidabribe.com and India against Corruption Movement.

The problem is the slow working courts that takes time to pronounce any conviction in mostcorruption charges. Furthermore, with the growth of cities, corruption also grows as more and

more intermediaries are needed between the central government and the people.

Research shows that India can control corruption by training its civil servants to a more

specialized level with expertise in auditing, accountancy, and legal problems. If this step was

taken at the time of liberalization, the picture could have been very different as oversight and

scrutiny in indoors of the administration would have increased.
http://www.ipaidabribe.com/http://www.ipaidabribe.com/


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Methodology:Current scenario of corruption in India:

In India corruption is rampant. It is a fact of our life today. It has embraced almost every

aspect of our social life. India ranked 69thamong the corrupt nations of the world as revealed by Transparency

International.

Gunnar Myrdal called India a soft state where nothing moved except when bribe was

given.

It has been admitted in the parliament that 31% of food grain and 36% of sugar under

PDS(Public Distribution System) goes to the blackmarket, thus endangering the food

security of the poor.

A report on bribery in India published by the Trace I nternational in January, 2009

states that

- 91% of the bribes were demanded by government officials.

- 77% of the bribes demanded were for avoiding harm rather than

to gain any advantage.3

- Of these 51% were for timely delivery of services to which the

individual was already entitled. Example, clearing transport customs.

In terms ofcorruption we were ranked 85th by the CPI (Corruption Perception Index)of

TI (Transparency International). That means approx. 50% of the countries ofthe world

are less corrupt than India.4

The TI (TransparencyInternationals) BPI(Bribe Payer Index) ranks India in very poor

position - 19th among 22 countries.

This means that Indian firms are perceived by international business as highly likely to

engagein bribery when doing business abroad.

This means that the International MNCs see Indian firms as high likely to engage in corrupt

practises when doing business abroad.5

Scams that shook the Nation:

India is pretty much used to scams with a new one busting every other day, but there are a

few which have left scars on the Indian Economy.

Coal Scam 2012:

Coal allocation scam or Coalgate is one of the biggest scam in the Indian history.

The government of India had the authority for allocating the coal blocks through

competitive bidding but chose not to.

As a result, both private and public sector companies paid less than what they would

have paid otherwise.

3

Trance International: The Indian Corruption survey4http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/the-fact-about-corruption/1119763/25N.VITTAL,CORRUPTION IN INDIA(Academic Found. 2003).


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The CAG estimated Rs.10.6 lakh crore loss, but the final report that was tabled in the

parliament stated a Rs.1.86 lakh crore.6

Judiciary scam 2014:

This is the latest Indian scam that got busted.

Well, this scam didnt cost India a penny. But this compromised with what is more

important than any kind of money, Justice.

The Ex-PM of India is accused of pressurising a bench of judges to appoint a Judge

who was alleged to be corrupt as a new permanent judge of a High Court.

While he isnt yet convicted of the crime but this has a laid an impression in the

minds of the people that even justice cannot be gained in India.

2G scam:

This scam has cost India more money than any other scam.

2G spectrum scam was a scam involving politicians who were underchargingfrequency allocation licences to mobile network companies.

The officials were in turn paid crores of rupees.

The estimated loss was calculated to be approx. Rs.1766.45 billion.

Cause of corruption in India:

There is some truth in the idea that India lacks the wherewithal to catch the corrupt people.

The Anti-corruption bureau (ACB) Maharashtra registered 698 cases in 2010. The instances

of corruption each day are in the thousands, and if only 698 cases can be registered in a single

year by the ACB Maharashtra, it is only tokenism. There is a need of raising this figure by at

least 10 times, if the ACB is to have any meaningful impact in helping decrease corruption.

Similarly, data relating to the performance ofLokayukta in Maharashtra shows that, with a

staff of over 70 members in it, it received about 11,153 allegations during the two and a half

decade period between 1981 and 2006, but could find only 57 instances where it

recommended an action by the government.

However, I submit that there is another, more fundamental reason of corruption: Our

systemsinability to punish a few corrupt persons that our investigative agencies couldidentify. To illustrate, I present the data published in the Indian Police Journal in April-June

2010. A study was carried out on the performance of the anti-corruption branch of the CBI

for the period 1980-84 in the year 2008, that is, after 26 years:7

During the 4 year period, 712 accused had been investigated & of these, only 273 persons

were charge sheeted. Out Of these, the CBI was able to get conviction in mere 144 cases. The

average time that was taken for investigation was 13.4 months, whereas the average time to

get the convictions was seven years and four months. Out Of these, only 4 persons have been

6

http://www.rediff.com/money/slide-show/slide-show-1-coal-scam-govt-loses-rs-10-6-lakh-crore/20120322.htm7http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/the-fact-about-corruption/1119763/2


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to prison for a period over 20 days, since most of those who were convicted appealed for

forgiveness, while some of thecovicted had died. In 2008, 71 appeals were still being

contested in the higher courts. The nation is still spending money in 71 cases to try 71 people

even after 26 years.

Its nowindicated that getting the investigative agencies to become more efficient may not bethe solution to the corruption, as it will get stalled at the judicial stage.

Justice B.N. Kirpal, former chief justice (CJI) of the Supreme Court of India, in an affidavit

in the New York Supreme Court, stated that justice cannot be obtained in India because of

the long time it takes.This affidavit was then used to prove that justice cannot be obtained

easily in India. Perhaps, he was lending credence to the very famous Hindi dialogue that our

courts can only deliver "tareekhpetareekh", but not justice.

Fighting corruption: An Indian approach

In a country with population over 1 Billion, fighting corruption in India is really a

Herculean task.

Introduction of Independent Committees to Check Corruption:

The K Santhanam Committee:

Another landmark step was taken by the government in 1962 when K Santhanam

committee was Formed with a view to prevent corruption.

The committee came up with 137 suggestion in 1964 of which the most IMP are:

Simplification of government rules, laws and work process

Speedy discarding of letters and files

Adequate pay and accommodation facilities should be provided to government

officers to discourage them to accept bribes

All civil servants, legislators and ministers should pronounce their private

assets.

Information and accounts concerning donations given to various political

parties by various private sectors should be made public.

Number of personnel in special police organization created to preventcorruption should be increased and more authority should be given to them in

the institution.

No government servant should work in private, commercial or industrial firm

for the first two years subsequent to retirement.

Of the 137 , the government accepted 106 recommendations of the K Santhanam

Committee.8

Consequently IPC was also amended to expanded to expand the scope.

8http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Bribery_and_corruption:_ground_reality_in_India/$FILE/EY-

FIDS-Bribery-and-corruption-ground-reality-in-India.pdf


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Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)

The CVC was set up by the Govt. of India in February,1964 on the recommendations of

the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, headed by Shri K. Santhanam, to advise the

Central Government agencies in the field of vigilance.

IPC, 1988

In 1988, the present Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) was passed, replacing the

previous statutes, amendments, and the sections of the IPC which dealt with corruption.

This brought all the anti-corruption laws under one rulingand provided for Higher

penalties, and also widened the definition of public servant.

In addition to the categories in the IPC, the definition of public servantalso

includes office bearers of cooperative societies who obtain financial support from the

government, employees of Public Service Commission and banks.

If a public servant takes gratification other than his legal remuneration in respect of an

official act or to manipulate, he shall be liable to minimum sentence of 6 months and

maximum of 5 years and fine. The Act also penalizes a public servant for taking

gratification to manipulate the public by illegal way and for exercising his personal

influence with a public servant.

If a public servant accepts a precious thing without paying for it or paying improperly

from a person with whom he is involved in a business deal in his official capacity, he

shall be penalized with minimum punishment of 6 months and maximum of 5 years and

fine.

It is necessary to obtain prior approval from the central or state government in order to

indict a public servant.

THE PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION BILL (AMENDMENT) 2013

The bill proposes to amend the existing Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 proposes changes in following

Acts/Ordinance to widen the description and coverage of offence of bribery in the line with

current international practice:

Offering of Bribe is an Offence

No provision of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 deals with the supply side of

corruption directly. But Section 24 of that Act provides that statement made by the bribe

giver in any proceedings against public servant for the crime of corruption shall not subject

that person to prosecution. It is mentioned in the Statement of Objects and Reasons to the

Bill that in vast majority of cases the bribe giver goes scot free by taking resort to provisions

of Section 24 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and therefore it becomes

increasingly difficult to tackle consensual bribery in particular.9

9https://in.news.yahoo.com/ready-reckoner-to-existing-anti-corruption-laws.html


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In order to plug such deficiencies in the law, Section 8 of that Act has been

substituted by introducing a new definition of 'bribe giving' which is largely based

on Section 1 of the UK Bribery Act, 2010 under Clause 3 of the Bill.

Even the offering/giving or promising financial other advantage by the bribe giver

itself constitutes 'improper' performance of relevant public function or activity'. It therefore implies that bribe giver cannot give any pecuniary or non-pecuniary

advantage to public servant even in the case of proper function of public function or

activity.

In simpler term any advantages given or provided to public servant even without

demand from the bribe takercould be considered as bribe as the public servant is

supposed not to take anything other than legal remuneration for discharging his/her

duty.10

Other important Changes are as follows

Compulsory declaration of business of partner/children and family of the public

servants by the public servants to Government.

Whistle blowers who gives information to and assist the Anti Corruption

agencies in the trap case may be rewarded with 50% of value of the kickback

demanded by the public servant.

Criticism of the act:

The Bill seeks to delete the entire clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 13 which states

as if he,-

(i) by corrupt or illegal means, obtains for himself or for any other person any

valuable thing or pecuniary advantage; or

(ii) by abusing his position as a public servant, obtains for himself or for any

other person any valuable thing or pecuniary advantage; or

(iii) while holding office as a public servant, obtains for any person any valuable

thing or pecuniary advantage without any public interest;

This section penalises criminal misbehaviour through misuse of office and other corrupt

or unlawful means leading to financial benefit either to the public servant or any other

person.

This section looked into and dealt with corruption at senior levels. All major frauds fromBofors to 2G, Commonwealth Games scam and coal scam became criminal offences

because of this section.

The bill also seeks to remove the existing section 24 of the Act. This section gives

protection to bribe-givers against action if they made a statement in opposition to an

accused public servant. Removing this section will have severe implications on the

victims of corruption. In trap cases, dealings are allowed in a controlled situation to

enable the investigating officer grab hold of the bribe-taker red-handed.

10 http://www.cfr.org/corruption-and-bribery/governance-india-corruption/p31823


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With the safeguard of section 24 gone, the complainants would be uncertain to come

forward and depose against the bribe-seekers as they themselves might be prosecuted as

bribe-givers.

RTI: A weapon for curbing corruption

What people seem to ignore completely at this crucial stage is the Right to Information

(RTI) Act 2005, which is of paramount importance for maintaining transparency in

governance.

It gives the common citizen the strength to fetch in the transparency, enquire about the

role of officials and political executive and weed out corruption.

In many levels, RTI has emerged as the strongest apparatus in preventing corruption so

far and the requirements of this bill are all encompassing.

For instance, the Center has already suggested that the Prime Minister should be kept

out of the ambit of Lokpal Bill.

However the RTI acts does not give any such exception to the office of Prime Minister

and one can file an RTI to Prime Minister's office seeking information.

In the last 6 years many cases of corruption have been unearthed and brought it into the

public domain by using the Right to Information Act.

Section 4 of the RTI Act- provision for proactive disclosure- categorically states that It

shall be a constant endeavour of every public authorityto provide as much

information suomotu to the public at regular intervals through various means of

communications, including internet, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of

this Act to obtain information. It requires all public authorities to routinely publish 17

categories of Information, which includes structure of the organization, welfare schemesand its beneficiaries, financial details of the scheme, and details of accessing

information etc.

Gaps to be filled

6 years after the RTI, Act came into being; the implementation of proactive revelation of

information remains elusive.

A rough estimation suggests an overwhelming 70% public authority neither complies

with section 4 of the RTI Act, nor makes information available. Therefore most of the

people are unaware that they have the right to know.

States like West Bengal, which has the most miserable record in filling of RTIs or

getting appropriate reply for it, the clause of proactive revelation remains a little,

complied with.

In 2007, West Bengals Ministry of Panchyat and Rural department, made some efforts

to build a model of revelation, but it largely remains on paper.

A well known RTI activist, from Development Communication and Research

Centre Subrata Kundu, found an intrinsic gap in the act. In his view, in order to record

the data and information, there needs to be a considerable amount of money however till


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date, there has been hardly any allocation of budget for keeping data in readily available

form.11

Another rationalization is provided by Public Information officers (PIOs) who feel that

infrastructural deficiencies hinder providing information proactively.

Media Information and communication Centre of IndiasDirector Nandini Sahai, aveteran RTI activist says lack of political resolve is the main stumbling block in

proactive revelation.

A big difficulty affecting the working of this act is no revelation of the fact is made is

made on time, so the whole process gets delayed.

Measures taken by different countries:

Japan:

In some countries briber payer are treated more harshly than the recipients while in some the

recipient is treated harsher. In contrast, some countries do not even criminalize the payment

of bribes. In the case of Japan, the recent change in the Code of Civil Servant provides formore severe treatment of the recipients if they are public officials.

Following the series of corruption scandals in Japan, significant revisions were made to the

law governing corruption.

They have made significant amendments to the Unfair Competition prevention law

that came into force on February 1999.

Domestic bribery offences were now treated under a new harsher Article 198 of the

penal code.

Other laws including Code of Criminal Procedure and the Commercial code were

amended.

In Japanese law, under article 32 bis (1) of the commercial code it is now found that

Every trader shall prepare accounting books and balance sheets for making clear

the conditions of business properties andprofit and loss.12

Now in the Japanese legal framework on anticorruption, a corrupt act often leads to

violation of number of laws besides anti-corruption laws:

Now, lack of accurate record keeping for the purpose of concealing bribery is

in violation of the Commercial Laws.

While misappropriation of companys assets for personal use is in violation of

article 252 and 253 of penal code.13

Reception and offering of gits and entertainment is quite wide spread as an attribute in

Japan, with 56% of the codes mentioning it.

After the implementation of the new set of rules, there has been a drastic change in

the economy of the country.

In the survey conducted it was reported that 78% of people now find the Job

environment more work friendly.

Now, as a result of all the revision of rules in the code of conduct of the Japanese

MNCs, their firms are now well rated everywhere around the globe.

11

http://voices.halabol.com/2012/03/31/you-can-kill-corruption-rti-too-lokpal-not-only-way12John B Kidd, Corruption and governance in Asia; pg 16813

John B Kidd, Corruption and governance in Asia; pg 172


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Singapores anti-corruption strategy:

Corruption was declared as an offence in 1871 in Singapore, however nothing was done bythe British colonial Govt. in the next 66 years until it enacted the Prevention of CorruptionOrdinance (POCO) on 10thDec 1937. However, the POCO was ineffective as a penalty as it

imposed a mere 2 year prison term or a fine of S$10000. Such a short term of imprisonmenthad no impact on the criminals mind.

Finally the Anti-corruption (ACB) branch of Singapore was ineffective because it could notcurb corruption even in the police force. This was illustrated by the discovery that senior

police officers were involved in the robbery of S$400000 worth of opium in October 1961.14

Major changes were noticed after the election of the Peoples Action Party (PAP) at the

centre. Major contributions were made by the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Heintroduced a new Anti-corruption act-POCA. POCA was enacted on 17thJune 1960.

Many changes were brought in the existing policies as such:

POCA broadened the scope with 32 sections in contrast to the previous act with 12

sections.

The punishment of corruption was increased to imprisonment for 5 years and a fine

upto $10000.

A person who is found guilty of accepting an illegal gratification has to pay the entire

sum to government in addition to the fine that he is liable to pay.

The Govt. officers now could arrest suspects and search the suspects any bank

account, share account or purchase account.

As a result of all this the Singapores Govt. could stabilise their economy and make a

place for themselves in the More developed countries in Asia.

14John B Kidd, Corruption and governance in Asia; pg 182


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Conclusion:

There are ample of conclusions that can be drawn from the study:

Corruption is an intractable problem. It is like diabetes, can only be controlled, but not totally

eliminated. It may not be able to root out corruption completely at all levels, but it is possible

to contain it within tolerable limits. Honest and dedicated persons in public life, could be the

most important prescription to combat corruption. Corruption has a corrosive impact on our

economy. It worsens our image in international market and leads to loss of overseas

opportunities. India being in a Debt-trap situation the law makers will have to think through

their feet to form measures that will give help to curb corruption.Only catching a corrupt and

award him a few years of imprisonment wont be sufficient. The money that government lost

due to the persons act should be recovered from him in addition to the fines and the

imprisonment sentence.Unless stringent punishments are not awarded, people will not

consider the importance of curbing in building a better society.The law makers have tried

many times to contain corruption through new statues, but have failed miserably due to the

loop holes in it. Due to the political influence and the corruption even in the judiciary the bills

that could have brought some change were never passed. For eg. The Lokpal bill.By the time

a scam is busted, our country already hascrores of rupees. Peoples lethargic attitude on

taking few measures on their own to curb corruption also adds to the reason why we are

taking so long to be corruption free.Even though a lot of people are accused of corruption by

the Anti-corruption department, very few are awarded a sentence. And by the time there is a

hearing against someone being convicted, many of them are dead already.With India being in

such huge debts, there is absolutely no way that it is recovering from it. But if we are able to

contain the corruption malice, things are bound to improve.With new scams being busted

every new day, India still has a long way to go before it can contain corruption to a decent

level. Corruption being a global problem that all the countries of the world have to confront,

solutions however can be home grown. It is not necessary that the measure that one country

took to contain corruption in their land may prove helpful in our country too. Each country,

no matter how similar their economy is, has to come up their own medicine. At last what will

matter is how the country has tackled the malice and paved its way to blossoming economy.


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Suggestions to fight corruption:

To provide the suggestions for fighting corruption one should know the basic reasons forreasons for corruption:

1) Greed in the minds of people-Nothing much can be done about this approach of the people. Even though

several measures like providing them education and information about the effects ofcorruption may help in decreasing corruption, but will not be able to completelyeradicate it.

2) Lack of fear of Law and the governing bodies.

-This mind set of people can be changed by giving harsher punishments forcorruption and even increasing the scope of corruption. Again, this measure may not help tocontain all of the corruption, but can definitely curtail the level of corruption in the country.

Few important measures that could help in containing corruption are:

In cases of corruption the convicted person should be awarded stringent punishments so that

it sets an example for other people.

Some Whistle blowers acts should be passed to provide incentive for the people to contribute

their bit for the prevention of corruption and also securities should be provided to whistle

blower. For Eg. TATA Steel has a whistle blower policy since 2005, which requires each and

every employee to report to the management in case of violation of the code. The whistle

blower were then awarded according to the size of scam they bust.

Such policies should be adopted from the MNCs and other developed foreign counties.

Moreover, The following suggestions should also be thought upon:

Giving more powers to anti-corruption department. Time-bound and effective implementation of judicial pronouncements. Privatization (with competition) in the provision of services like electricity. Provision of ombudsman in every department to redress peoples grievances.

In considering a fight against corruption, the following characteristics should be kept in view:

The underlying fact of corruption is human greed and ego. It can therefore be

contained but not eliminated.

Corruption is war on people; it has to be fought by people themselves for its most

effective rebuttal.

A preventive approach to contain corruption is far better than the post facto/penalizing

approach.

The idea should be that we should not take measures to fight corruption, instead we

should frame laws that could help to prevent corruption. A judicial system that

delivers in a reasonable time is a prerequisite for any reduction in corruption. Just

Talking of fast-track courts is no solution. We must realise that the judicial system is

not functioning effectively. This can be changed, if we have an effective judicial

delivery system that delivers judgements in less than 18 months. This is possible, andshould be considered non-negotiable.


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Bibliography:

Websites researched-

http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/the-fact-about-corruption/1119763/2

http://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/in-the-end-india-will-still-be-trapped-

in-debt

https://in.news.yahoo.com/ready-reckoner-to-existing-anti-corruption-laws.html

http://voices.halabol.com/2012/03/31/you-can-kill-corruption-rti-too-lokpal-not-

only-way

http://www.lawyersclubindia.com/articles/CRIMINAL-MISCONDUCT-U-S-13-

1-d-OF-PREVENTION-OF-CORRUPTION-ACT-1988--611.asp#.U-gEevmSxct

http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21598967-graft-india-damaging-

economy-country-needs-get-serious-about-dealing-it

http://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/voices/Anti-Corruption-Bill-Seems-

to-be-for-Promotion-Not-Prevention-of-Graft/2014/02/21/article2068250.ece

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/india-ill-prepared-to-fight-

corruption-113120100412_1.html

Books Referred:

N.VITTAL,CORRUPTION IN INDIA(Academic Found. 2003).

Transparency international: A survey of corruption in India

Rahul Gupta, Corruption: the cause and combating strategies
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corruption in india and laws to keep to a check

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