INDIA – TOWARDS A CORRUPTION FREE INDIA

“POWER TENDS TO CORRUPT AND ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTSABSOLUTELY”

INTRODUCTION:

There are numerous issues like violation of humanrights, gender discrimination, child abuse, and dispossessionof marginal communities, denial of common property rights,environmental degradation and most important issue todaycorruption. Furthermore, the process of development along withthe expanding globalization and liberalization has earned animportant place in the political, economic and social agendasof many nations in the issues related to Corruption. It is aknown fact that, corruption cannot be defined. However in anarrow sense, corruption is mostly concerned with bribery andit takes several forms. Corruption is a global phenomenon andit is omnipresent. Corruption has progressively augmented andis now rampant in our society. Society is an ambiguous termunless defined conceptually and explained theoretically interms of material processes, relations, systems andstructures.

NATIONAL SCENARIO:

Corruption in India is a consequence of the Nexus betweenbureaucracy, politics, and criminals. India is now no longerconsidered a soft state. It has now become a considerationstate, where everything can be had for a consideration. Today,the number of ministers with an honest image can be counted onfingers. At one time, bribe was paid for getting wrong thingsdone, but now bribe is paid for getting right things done atright time.

Indian administration is tainted with scandals. India isamong top countries where corruption is rampant, according tothe corruption perception Index Report released by

Transparency International India. Corruption in India leads topromotion, not prison. It is very difficult to catch “bigsharks”. Corruption in India has wings not wheels. As Nationgrows, the corruption also grows to invent new methods ofcheating the Government and public.

Amidst this backdrop, Indians anger over rising corruptionthat has reached feverish levels. What people are calling a“Season of scams” includes:

The alleged theft of billions by officials behind lastyear’s common wealth games in Delhi.

$40 billion in revenues lost from the crooked sale of 2Gtelecom licences

Over $40 billion stolen in Uttar Pradesh alone forschemes subsidising food and fuel for the poor.

Overseas businessmen, who have slashed investment over thepast year, rank embed their biggest headache, behind appallinginfrastructure. Now India’s anticorruption chief has beenforced out over corruption

CAUSES FOR CORRUPTION:

The causes of corruption are many and complex. Followingare some of the causes of corruption.

i. Emergency of political elite who believe in interestoriented rather than nation-oriented programmes andpolicies.

ii. Artificial scarcity created by the people with malevolentintentions wrecks the fabric of the economy.

iii. Corruption is caused as well as increased because of thechange in the value system and ethical qualities of menwho administer. The old ideals of morality, service, andhonesty are regarded as an achromistic.

iv. Tolerance of people towards corruption, complete lacks ofintense public outcry any against corruption and theabsence of strong public forum to oppose corruption,allow corruption to reign over people.

v. Vast size of population coupled with wide spread ofilliteracy and the poor economic infra structure lead toendemic corruption in public life.

vi. In a highly inflationary economy, low salaries ofgovernment officials compel them to resort to the road ofcorruption. Graduates from IIMS with no experience draw afar handsome salary than what government secretariesdraw.

vii. Complex laws and procedures alienate common people to askfor any help from Government.

viii. Election time is a time when corruption is at its peaklevel. Big industrialist fund politicians to meet highcost of election and ultimately to seek personal favour.Bribery to politicians buys influence and bribery bypoliticians buys votes. In order to get electedpoliticians bribe poor illiterate people, who areslogging for two times meal.

PAST TRENDS:

SCAM AFTER SCAM

Corruption in India is not a secret from anyone, as it isprevalent from private to the public sector and almosteveryone in the system is part of the misdoings. However, the

extent to which the Indian public sector employees andpoliticians have taken corruption is drastic.

The damage caused by corruption to the Indian stateexchequer is immense, with Indians hoardings $1,456 billion inblack money at swiss banks. Apart from the amounts of blackmoney on foreign shores, the controversies revolving aroundthe common wealth games had led to the country not onlysuffering from financial leaks, but the irresponsibility ofthe top officials also damaged the country’s reputation abroadand had almost jeopardized the games, which were being toutedas the biggest sporting event on Indian soil.

Another leader, who has cheated the Indian public, isnone other than the former Telecom Minister, A. Raja the manwho turned his back on his countrymen by the sale of 2Gspectrum at a minimal cost and caused damages to the countryamounting to Rs.1.76 lakh crores. A cabinet minister stoopingso low for selfish gains is not just pathetic, but aggravatingabout how such a thing could happen; when the system has beenmade to prevent such discrepancies.

This disease of corruption is so wide spread in thecountry that it has not spared the men of honour in the armedforced with the names of some top defence officers in Indiabeing named in a scam involving a housing society in Mumbai.

Apart from Indians being well informed about the socalled intricacies of the system, India has also earned a fewspecial titles, regarding corruption. The Nation has beenranked 1st in a list of 30 countries related to the readinessof companies to pay bribes for business contracts, in both,the public and the private sector.

Though India has been touted to be one of the fastestgrowing Nations in the world, it is not surprising to see that

the country at the same time is suffering from an epidemicknown as Corruption.

The country could very well be defined as a failedadministrative state, as the country has been ranked 97th outof 146 countries, in a failed states Index by Foreign Policyin Washington. India also has the distinction of being ranked70th in a list of 183 countries by transparency International,who look into the cleanliness of businesses in the country.

Though bribery has been part of the Nation since itsheydays, the only cause of concern is that Indian economy issuffering immensely because of their corrupt men, who neverfail to make a buck for themselves by stealing the hard earnedmoney of Indian people from the state exchequer. Let's hopethe so-called self proclaimed world’s 3rd largest economy doesnot lose out on its potential because of corrupt politiciansand bureaucrats.

MAJOR SCANDALS IN INDIA:

This is the season of scams and the biggest evercorruption cases in India have been unearthed more recently.So it was decided to dig deep to see which scams were thebiggest and most damaging to the country and its citizenalike.

In our daily life, most of us must have been or witnessto or a victim of the corruption thriving in same or the otherpart of the country. It could be in the form of a taxi-drivermanipulating the meter to jack-up the reading or a governmentofficer taking bribe to transfer promptly your file to thenext department or even yourself offering bribe to a trafficpolice on breaking a signal.

The article is mainly focused on corruption, so it isrelevant here to tell readers about some famous scams takenplace in India.

1. MUNDHRA SCANDAL

The Mundhra Scandal involved the then Finance MinisterT.T Krishnamachari, who pressured the Government-owned LifeInsurance Corporation of India into boiling out HaridasMundhra, a Calcutta based Industrialist, by buying sharesworth as 1.24 crores in six companies owned by hi. LIC did sodutifully by passing its own investment committee. Mundhra wasswindling the companies and simultaneously rigging up theirstock prices to camouflage his fraud. TTK, as the minister waspopularly known least expected that this shady deal would beexposed by the then P.M.’s own son-in-law.

Although Feroz Gandhi belonged to the ruling party, hedid not hesitate to speak out against the Government, becausehe argued that corruption in high places was a betrayal of theideals of the newly independent nation. To be fair to PanditNehru, he quickly appointed a one-man commission headed byJustice M.C. Chagla, one of the most respected legalluminaries of the time.

The speedy and transparent manner in which Chaglaconducted enquiry – it was all over, and the guilty werepunished, in less than two years – out to have been a modelfor all such probes.

All its hearings were public and the proceedings wereaired on loudspeakers. Mundhra was sentenced to 22 years inprison and TTK lost his job.

2. FODDER SCAM:

Fodder scam is a scam related to animal husbandrydepartment of Government of Bihar in which irregularities ofnearly Rs.950 crores were detected. The scam was unearthed in1996 during the regime of chief minister Lalu Prasad yadav,but it goes back to 1980s and is believed to have startedduring tenure of Jagannath Mishra. Lalu had ordered probe intothese massive irregularities in accounts by constituting acommittee.

However, motives of these people were questioned bypublic interest litigation and supreme court of India handedover the case to CBI. Many people who were in this probecommittee themselves became accused. Charges were filedagainst Lay Prasad Yadav too and later on Jagannath Mishra wasalso framed.

CBI filed 69 different cases related to this scam. 31 ofwhich has been in Jharkhand and remaining in Bihar. Thecharges were framed under Sections 420 and 120 (b) of IndianPenal Code and Section 13(b) of the prevention of corruptionact. There are a total of 76 accused, of whom three have diedand three turned state witnesses.

It was only after special investigation team (SIT) underU.N. Biswas that investigation started at a brisk rate. Soonmany heads started rolling and Lalu Prasad Yadav and membersof his party had to take lose their ministerial berths both atcentre and state facing corruption changes.

3. BOFORS SCANDAL

The Bofors scandal was a major corruption scandal inIndia in the 1980s, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi andseveral others were accused of receiving kickbacks from BoforsAB for winning a bid to supply India’s 155 mm Field howitzer.

The scale of the corruption was far worse than any that Indiahad seen before, and directly led to the defeat of RajivGandhi’s ruling Indian National Congress party in November1989 General Elections. The case came to light duringViswanath Pratap Singh’s tenure as Defence Minister.

The name of the middle man associated with the scandalwas Ottario Quattrocchi, an Italian businessman whorepresented the petrochemicals firm scamprogetti. Quattrochiwas close to the family of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi andemerged as a powerful broker in the 80s between big businessand the Indian Government.

Even while the case was being investigated, Rajiv Gandhiwas assassinated on May 31, 1991 during his election campaign.

In 1997, the swiss banks released some 500 documentsafter years of legal wrangling and the CBI file a case againstQuattrochi, Winchadha, also naming Rajiv Gandhi, the defencesecretary and a number of others. Several attempts toextradite Quattrochi failed.

On May 31, 2005 the High court of Delhi dismissed theBofors case allegations against the British business brothers,Srichand, Gopichand and Prakash Hinduja.

In December 2005, B. Datta, the additional solicitorGeneral of India, acting on behalf of the Indian Governmentand the CBI, requested the British Government that the twoBritish bank accounts of Ottario Quattrocchi be de-frozen onthe grounds of insufficient evidence to link these accounts tothe Bofors payoff. The two accounts containing 3 million and$1 million, had been in 2003 by a high order by request of theIndian Government.

The accounts were de-frozen on January 11, 2006. OnJanuary 16, the Indian Supreme Court directed the Indian

Government to ensure that Ottario Quattrocchi did not withdrawmoney from the two bank accounts in London. The CBI on Jan23, 2006 admitted that roughly Rs.21 crore in the two accountshave already been withdrawn. The British Government releasedthe funds based on a request by the Indian Government. At thetime a congress-led alliance was in power, and Sonia Gandhi,as president of the congress party, faced considerablecriticism for this sudden volte face by the Indian Government.

However, on January 16, 2006, CBI claimed in an affidavitfiled before the Supreme Court that they were still pursuingextradition orders for Quattro chi. The Interpol, at therequest of CBI has a long standing red corner notice to arrestQuattro chi.

Quattro chi was detained in Argentina on 6th February2007, but the news of his detention was released by the CBIonly on 23rd February, staking of claims that it may have beensuppressed by the ruling congress government because of stateelections. Quattro chi has been released by Argentineanpolice.

4. HARSHAD MEHTA SCAM:

In April 1992, the Indian Stock Market crashed andHarshad Mehta, the person who was all along considered as thearchitect of the bull run was blamed for the crash. Ittranspired that he had manipulated the Indian Banking Systemsto Siphon off the funds from the banking system, and used theliquidity to build large positions in a select group ofstocks. When the scam broke out, he was called upon by theBanks and financial institutions to return the funds, which inturn set into motion or chain reaction necessitating,liquidating and exiting from the positions which he had builtin various stocks. The panic reaction issued and the stock

market reacted and crashed within days. He was arrested onJune 5, 1992 for his role in the scam.

As an aftermath of the shock waves which engulfed theIndian Financial sector, a number of people holding keypositions in the India’s financial sector were adverselyaffected, which included arrest and sacking of K.M.Margabandhu, then CMD of the UCO Bank; removal from officeG.V. Mahadevan, one of the Managing Directors of India’slargest bank, the State Bank of India.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is India’spremier investigating agency, was entrusted with the task ofdeciphering the modus operandi and the ramifications of thescam. Harshad Mehta was arrested and investigations continuedfor a decade. During his Judicial custody, while he was inThane prison, Mumbai, he complained of chest pain, and wasmoved to a hospital, where he died on 31st December, 2001.

5. LAKHUBHAI PATHAK CHEATING SCANDAL:

Lakhubhai pathak, an Indian businessman living in Englandalleged that Chandraswami and K.N. Aggarwal alias Mamaji,along with Narasimha Rao, cheated him out of $100,000. Theamount was for an express promise for allowing supplies ofpaper pulp in India, and pathak alleged that he spent anadditional $30,000 entertaining Chandra swami and hissecretary. Rao and Chandraswami were admitted of the chargesin 2003, due to lack of evidence. Despite this, it remained alarge black mark.

6. KETAN PAREKH SCANDAL:

Companies when raising money from the stock market ropein brokers to back them in raising of the share price. Ketanparekh formed a net work of brokers from smaller exchangeslike the Allahabad Stock Exchange. Ketan also used benamishare purchase in the name of poor people in the Shanty townsof Mumbai. Ketan’s rise to fame occurred at the same time asthe world wide dot-com boom (1999-2000) and he reliedprimarily on the shares of ten companies for his dealings (nowknown infamously as the K-10 scrips).

Ketan had large borrowings from Global Trust Bank, whoseshares he was ramping up (s that he could get a good deal atthe time of its merger with UTI Bank) – he got Rs.250 croreloan from Global Trust Bank though Global Trust’s ChairmanRamesh Gelli (who was later asked to quit) repeatedly saidthat lending to Ketan was less than Rs.100 crores in keepingwith Reserve Bank of India norms. Ketan and his associates gotanother Rs.1,000 crores from the Madhavpura Merchantile co-operative Bank, despite the fact that RBI regulations ruledthat the maximum a broker could have got a loan was Rs. 15crore.

Thus, ketan’s modus operandi was clearly to ramp upshares of select firms in collusion with the promoters –ironically, during the ketan cleanup. SEBI concluded a 3 yearold case, where Harshad Mehta colluded with the managements ofBPL, Sterlite and Videocon to rampup their shares with moneyprovided by these managements and to get funding from them todo this. In the current Ketan case, SEBI has found prima-facieevidence of price rigging in the scrips of Global Trust Bank,Zee Telefilms, HFCL, Lupin Laboratories, Aftek Infosys andPadmini polymer.

Now with the prices of select shares constantly going up,thanks largely to this rigging, innocent investors’ who bought

such shares thinking the market as genuine, were at loss.Soon after discovery of this scam, the prices of these stockscame down to the fraction of the values at which they werebought. The scam burst and the rigged shares came down soheavily that quite a few people in India lost their savings.Some banks, including Bank of India lost money heavily.

At this time a group of traders (known as the bear cartel– Shankar sharma, Anand Rathi, Nirmal Bang) relied on theGlobal meltdown of stocks to make their profits. Bears sellstocks at high prices and buy back at low prices. All theborrowing of ketan’s could not rescue his scrips. The GlobalTrust Bank and the Madhavpura Cooperative went bust becausethe money they had lent to ketan had sunk with his K10 stocks.

The information which was furnished by the Reserve Bankof India to the Joint Parliamentary committee (JPC), duringthe investigation of the scam revealed that Financialinstitutions like industrial development bank of India (IDBIBank) and Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) hadextended loans of Rs.1,400-odd crore to companies known to beclose to broken ketan parekh. Ketan Parekh was later arrestedon December 2, 2002 in Kolkatta.

7. ABDUL KARIM TELGI SCAM:

The Telgi case is another big scam that rocked India. Thefake stamp rocket involving Karim Telgi was exposed in 2000.The loss is estimated to be Rs.171.33 crore (1.71 billion).It was initially pegged to be Rs.30,000 crore (Rs.300billion), which was later clarified by the CBI as anexaggerated figure. In 1994, Abdul Karim Telgi acquired a

stamp paper license from the Indian government and beganprinting fake stamp paper.

Abdul Karim Telgi is a convicted counterfeiter fromIndia. He earned money of several billion US dollars byprinting stamp paper in India. The scale of his operation andscam can only be matched by the stock market scam of the early1990s in India done by Late Big Bull Harshad Mehta.

Born to an employee of Indian Railways in 1961, Telgi wasleft to feud for himself at an early age after his father’sdeath. He paid for his own education at Sarvodaya Vidyalaya,an English medium school by selling fruit and vegetables ontrains. He completed his B.Com from a Belgaum College. Afterthis, he moved to Saudi Arabia. Seven years later, he returnedto India and began to work as a Travel Agent.

Telgi was arrested in 1991 by Mumbai police for fraud.During his subsequent prison sentence, he reportedly learnedthe art of forgery from an expert. He was released and in 1994acquired a stamp paper licence from the Government of India.

Telgi bribed to get into the Government Security Press inNashik and bought special machines to print fake stamp papers.Telgi’s network spread across 13 states involving 176 offices,1000 employees and 123 bank accounts in 18 cities.

He began printing fake stamp paper. He appointed 300people as agents who sold the fakes to bulk purchases,including banks, FIS, insurance companies, and share-brokingfirms. His monthly profit have been estimated nearly Rs.202

crore. The size of the scam was estimated to be more than43,000 crore rupees.

8. 2G SPECTRUM SCAM:

We have had a number of scams in India, but none biggerthan the scam involving the process of allocating unifiedaccess service licenses. At the heart of this Rs.1.76 lakhcrore worth of scam is that the Former Telecom Minister, A.Raja, who according to the CAG, has evaded norms at everylevel as he carried out the 2G license awardsin 2008 at a throw away price which were pegged at 2001prices.

From the time allegations of misappropriation during thebidding for allocation of 2G spectrum surfaced, till TelecomMinister, A. Raja ouster, high drama charged with politics inDelhi and Tamilnadu. So what exactly is the spectrum scam thatled to all this?

What is spectrum scam?

i) 2G Licences issued to private telecom players atthrow away prices in 2008.

ii) CAG: spectrum scam has cost the Government Rs.1.76lakh crores.

iii) CAG: Rules and procedures flouted while issuinglicenses.

Cheap telecom licenses:

i) Entry fee for spectrum licenses in 2008 pegged at 2001prices.

ii) Mobile subscriber base had shot up to 350 million in2008 from 4 million in 2001.

No procedures followed:

i) Rules changed after the game had begunii) Cut off date for applications advanced by a weekiii) Licenses issue on a first-come first served basisiv) No proper auction process followed, no bids invitedv) Raja ignored advice of TRAI, Law Ministry, Finance

Ministryvi) TRAI had recommended auctioning of spectrum at market

rates.

d) Favouritism, Corporates Encash premium:

(i) Unitech, Swan Telecom got licenses without any priorTelecom experience.

(ii) Swam Telecom given license even though it did notmeet eligibility criteria.

(iii) Swan got license for Rs.1537 crore, sold 45%stake to Etisalat for Rs.4200 crore.

(iv) Unitech Wireless got license for Rs.1661 crore, sold60 % stake for Rs.6200 crore.

(v) All nine companies paid DOT only Rs.10,772 crore for2G licenses.

e) Chargesheet of arrest in 2G scam:

(i) Filing its first charge sheet in the 2G spectrumallocation scam in a special court the CBI indicatedthe former Union Telecom Minister, A.Raja forallegedly conspiring with senior bureaucrats andindustrialists to illegally manipulate this secondgeneration spectrum allocation during 2007-08 and

cause a loss of Rs. 30,984 crore to the Nationalexchequer.

(ii) Besides Raja and eight other persons includingbureaucrats and corporate big-wigs, three companies-Anil Ambani headed ADAG’s, Reliance Telecom, Unitechwireless and swan Telecom –were named as accused inthe 2G scam in the CBI’s chargesheet.

(iii) The CBI has slapped a range of charges,including cheating, forgering, corruption andcriminal conspiracy, on them.

(iv) Raja has been charged with manipulating procedureslike advancing the cut-off date for 2G telecomlicences, applications in conspiracy with officialsand industrialists by privately conveying to themthe rescheduled date and grant of licences, toineligible applicants. He has been charged withcheating, forgery and abuse of official position.Under the provisions of Indial Penal code andprevention of corruption Act.

(v) The CBI alleged that Raja, the former TelecomSecretary Siddharth Behura, Raja’s personalSecretary R.K. Chandotia, Swan Telecom’s promoterShahid Usman Balwa, and the Unitech WirelessManaging Director, Sanjay Chandra, entered into aconspiracy for manipulating the procedure forallocation of spectrum with the aim of favouringcompanies like Swan Telecom and Unitech Group.

(vi) The Agency also dealt with the criminality involvedin the decision taking mechanism by Raja andofficials of the Department of Telecom (DOT) withregard to first-come-first served (FCFS) policy,allowing dual technology to telecom companies andgranting licences to ineligible companies and losscaused to the national exchequer.

(vii) The charge-sheet running into about 80,000pages and brought in seven trunks, was filed beforethe CBI Judge Mr. O.P. Saini in a special court

constituted exclusively to try the 2G scam case thatis being monitored by the supreme court. TheAttorney General G.E. Vahanvati and the CorporateLobbyist Niira Radia have been named among 125witnesses in the case. [The CBI will file thesupplementary charge sheet soon and is likely tocomplete its probe by 31st May in the politicallysensitive 2G case.

(viii) Raja, Chandolia, Behura and Shahid Balwa werearrested earlier by the CBI and are in Jail now.Later, Swan Telecom Director Vinod Goenka Unitechwireless (Tamil Nadu) Ltd., Managing Director SanjayChandra and three top officials of Reliance ADAGroup – Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nairwere arrested and sent to Jail.

(ix) The CBI said the grant of offences were five-foldincluding the advancing of cut-off date forreceiving applications for the 2G Licences to helpaccused companies Swan Telecom and Unitech.

(x) According to CBI counsel, “Investigation hasdisclosed that Swan Telecom was an associate ofReliance ADA Group. Both the companies had nobusiness history and were activated solely for thepurpose of applying for UAS Licence in 13 circles.The Reliance Telecom did not have GSM spectrum forthese circles and it had already applied for dualtechnology spectrum for these circles. Investigationhas revealed that the accused Nair, Doshi and Piparahad wrongly represented themselves as the Directorsand other high ranking officials of the SwanTelecom.

(xi) The CBI also told the court that Kalaignar TV Pvt.Ltd., Cineyug films, Green House Pvt. Ltd. AndKusegoan fruits and vegetables Pvt. Ltd., are alsounder its scrunity and investigation is underway.Kalaignar Tv’s shares are held by the Tamil Nadu,Former Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi’s daughter and

DMK, MP Kanimozhi, his wife Dayaluammal and theTV’s MD’s Sharad Kumar in the ratio of 20%, 60% and20% respectively. The CBI has alleged that aboutRs.200 crore money connected with the 2G scam hadbeen transferred from Shahid Balwa- promoted SwanTelecom to Kalaignar TV through cineyug films andKusegaon fruits and vegetables pvt. Ltd.

(xii) CBI is also investigating Kalaignar TV, AsifBalwa and Rajiv Aggarwal, who are the directors ofKusegaon fruits and vegetables, and cineyug andGreen House promoters. They are likely to be namedin the supplementary charge-sheet that will besubmitted later on.

(xiii) Asif Balwa is said to be Shahid Balwa’s cousin.Green House promoters Sadiq Bateha a close Rajaaide, was alleged to have committed suicide in hisChennai Residence under mysterious circumstances.The CBI is set to enquire into his death. Asif andRajiv were recently arrested by the CBI.

(xiv) The CBI has mentioned 654 documents and namesof 125 witnesses in the voluminous 80,000 pagescharge-sheet. Among the 125 witnesses listed in thecharge-sheet are over 50 senior governmentofficials, most of them belonging to the telecomministry.

(xv) The CBI had earlier informed the Supreme Court thatSwan Telecom and Loop Telecom were used as frontcompanies by Reliance Telecom and Essar, who havestakes in Vodafone, to get 2G spectrum illegallyduring Mr.Raja’s tenure.

(xvi) The 2G spectrum scam is widely dubbed as thebiggest corruption scam of Independent India. Thecontroller and Auditor-General (CAG) of India haspegged the “presumptive” loss due to the scam at astaggering Rs.1.76 lakh crore.

IX. Multi Crore disproportionate assets scam by Mr. Y .S.Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Member of Parliament from KadappaConstituency in A.P.

Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, also called Jagan by his admirersis an Indian politician and is a Member of Parliament fromKadappa constituency in A.P. He is the son of the former A.P.Chief Minister Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, aged 39, fromPulivendula, Kadappa District. He is the chief of Y.S.R.Congress, a new party formed in A.P.

Mr. Jagan was sent to Jail in the alleged multi croredisproportionate assets scam being probed by the CBI andEnforcement Directorate.

While opposing Jagan’s bail plea in Supreme Court, theCBI had claimed that the trail of his alleged disproportionateassets, extended not only confined to the state of A.P., butalso extends to the states of Maharastra, Karnataka, WestBengal, Delhi and several other countries.

Therefore, the public perception in the rule of Law andMajesty of Justice will suffer dilution. In the present case,the petitioner and other accused have impoverished the stateexchequer with several thousand crores and the petitioner hasenriched himself to a large magnitude only through resortingto illegal and corrupt methods.

In a short spam of time to be precise within a period offive years, the petitioner here in has enriched himself toseveral thousands of crores illegally and by subversion of thesystem, the CBI had claimed in its affidavit.

In its affidavit the CBI had alleged that Jagan hadenriched himself by several thousands of crores of rupeesillegally by using the influence of his father and granting

him bail at this juncture would erode public confidence in theadministration of Justice.

Further according to CBI, Mr. Jagan had made severalattempts to influence the witnesses and has not cooperatedwith the investigating Agencies, attempted to stifleinvestigation and prosecution by filing several petitions andinitiating frivolers proceedings.

The CBI had also alleged that having regard to hugefinances available at the disposal of Jagan and his politicalclout, he is likely to interfere with the process of furtherprobe being conducted by it in this case. The case is stillpending in the supreme court.

7. MEASURES TO COMBAT CORRUPTION:

The situation in India today is drastic, and drasticsituation require drastic measures. While corruption hasexisted from time immemorial recently has probably seen themaximum number of scams being unearthed. These are only thescams that have been exposed. There could be a thousand othersthat have gone unexposed.

Earlier we use to say that corruption exists only inGovernment service, today it has dribbled into every singleprofession. Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, the Media, and theJudiciary - Nothing is spared. This is a very dangerousscenario for the country.

Is it possible to eradicate corruption from our society?Corruption is a cancer which every Indian must strive to cure.Many new leaders when come into power declare theirdetermination to eradicate corruption, but soon theythemselves become corrupt and start amassing huge wealth.

There are many myths about corruption which have to beexploded, if we really want to combat it. Some of these mythsare:

(i) Corruption is a way of life and nothing can be doneabout it.

(ii) Only people from underdeveloped or developingcountries are prone to corruption.

We will have to guard against all their crude fallacieswhile planning measures to fight corruption.

(i) Fool proof laws should be made so that there is noroom for discretion for politicians and bureaucrats.The role of the politician should be minimised.Application of the evolved policies should be leftin the hands of independent commission authority ineach area of public interest. Decision of thecommission or authority should be challengeable onlyin the courts.

(ii) Cooperation of the people has to be obtained forsuccessfully containing corruption. People shouldhave a right to recall the elected representativesif they see them belonging indifferent to theelectorate.

(iii) Funding of elections is at the core ofpolitical corruption. Electoral reforms are crucialin this regard. Several reforms like, State fundingof Election expenses for candidates; strictenforcement of statutory requirements like holdingin-party elections, making of political parties gettheir accounts audited regularly and file income-taxreturns, denying persons with criminal record achance to contest elections, should be brought in.

(iv) Responsiveness, accountability, and transparency area must for a clear system. Bureaucracy the back boneof good governance should be made more citizenfriendly, accountable, ethical and transparent.

(v) More and more courts should be opened for speedy andinexpensive justice, so that cases don’t linger incourts for years and Justice is delivered on time.

(vi) Local bodies, Independent of the government, likeLokpals, Lok Adalats, CVCS and Vigilance commissionsshould be formed to provide speedy justice with lowexpenses.

(vii) A new fundamental right i.e. Right toinformation should be instroduced, which willempower the citizens to ask for the information theywant. Barring some confidential information, whichconcerns national and international security, otherinformation should be made available to generalpublic as and when required. Stringent actionsagainst corrupt official, will certainly have adeterrent impact.

(viii) Anti corruption systems needs a change : Why isit that no one goes to Jail in our country despiteindulging in corruption? This is because, we havecompletely rotten anti-corruption laws and anti-corruption agencies that it is almost impossible forthe corrupt to be penalized.

(ix) Deficiencies in present system: At Centralgovernment level, there is central vigilancecommission (CVC), Departmental Vigilance and CBI.CVC and departmental vigilance deal with vigilance(disciplinary proceedings) and aspect of acorruption case and CBI deals with criminal aspectof that case.

a) Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)

CVC is the apex body for all vigilance cases inGovernment of India. However, it does not have adequateresources commensurate with the large number of complaintsthat it receives. CVC is a very small set up with a staffstrength less than 200. It is supposed to check corruption in

more than 1500 central government departments and Ministries,same of them being as big as central excise, Railways, Incometax etc.

Therefore, it has to depend on the vigilance wings ofrespective departments and forwards most of the complaints forenquiry and report to them. While it monitors the progress ofthese complaints, there is delay and the complainants areoften disturbed by this. It directly enquires into a fewcomplaints on its own, especially when it suspects motivateddelays or where senior officials could be implicated. Butgiven the constraints of manpower, such number is reallysmall.

CVC is merely an advisory body. Central GovernmentDepartments seek CVC’s advice on various corruption cases.However, they are Free to accept or reject CVC’s advice. Evenin those cases, which are directly enquired into by the CVC,it can only advise Government.

Experience shows that CVC’s advice to initiate enquiresagainst any officer of the level of Joint Secretary and aboveon its own. The CBI has to seek the permission of thatDepartment, which obviously would not be granted if the seniorofficers of that Department are involved and they could delaythe case or see to it that permission would not be granted.

CVC does not have powers to register criminal case. Itdeals only with vigilance or disciplinary matters. It does nothave powers over politicians. If there is an involvement of apolitician in any case, CVC could at best bring it to thenotice of the government. There are several cases of seriouscorruption in which officials and political executives areinvolved together.

It does not have any direct powers over departmentalvigilance wings. Often it is seen that CVC forwards a

complaint to a department and then keeps sending reminders tothem to enquire and send report. Many a times, the Departmentsjust do not reply. CVC does not have any really effectivepowers over them to seek compliance of its orders.

CVC does not have administrative control over officialsin vigilance wings of various central government departments,to which it forwards corruption complaints. Though theGovernment does consult CVC before appointing the chiefvigilance officers of various departments, however, the finaldecision lies with the Government. Also, the officials belowCVC are appointed / transferred by that department only.

Appointments to CVC are directly under the control ofruling political party, though the leader of the opposition isa member of the committee to select CVC and VC’s. But thecommittee only considers names put up before it and that isdecided by the Government. The appointments are opaque.

CVC act gives supervisory powers to CVC over CBI.However, these supervisory powers have remained ineffective.CVC does not have the power to call for any file from CBI orto direct them to do any case in a particular manner.

Therefore, though CVC is relatively independent in itsfunctioning, it neither has resources nor powers to enquireand take action on complaints of corruption in a manner thatmeets the expectations of people or act as an effectivedeterrence against corruption.

b) Departmental Vigilance wings:

Each department has a vigilance wing, which is manned byofficials from the same department (barring a few which havean outsider as chief vigilance officer). However, all theofficers under him belong to the same department.

Since the officers in the vigilance wing of a departmentare from the same department and they can be posted to anyposition in that department any time, it is practicallyimpossible for them to be independent and objective whileenquiring into complaints against their colleagues andseniors. If a complaint is received against a senior officer,it is impossible to enquire into that complaint because anofficer who is in vigilance today might get posted under thatsenior officer same time in future.

There have been instances of the officials posted invigilance wing by that department, having had a very corruptpost. While in vigilance, they try to scuttle all casesagainst themselves. They also turn vigilance wing into a hubof corruption, where cases are closed for consideration.

Department vigilance does not investigate into criminalaspect of any case. It does not have the powers to register anFIR. They also do not have any powers against politicians.Since the vigilance wing is directly under the control of theHead of that Department, it is practically impossible for themto enquire against senior officials of that department.Therefore, the vigilance wing of any department is seen tosoft-pedal a genuine complaints or used to enquire againstinconvenient officers.

c) Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI):

CBI has powers of a police station to investigate andregister FIR. It can investigate any case related to centralgovernment on its own or any case referred to it by any stategovernment or any court.

CBI is overburdened and does not accept cases even whereamount of defalcation is alleged to be around Rs.1 crore. CBIis directly under the administrative control of CentralGovernment.

So, if a complaint pertains to any Minister orPolitician, who is part of a ruling coalition or a bureaucratwho is close to them, CBI’s credibility has suffered and thereis increasing public perception that it cannot do a fairinvestigation and that it is influenced to scuttle thesecases.

Again because CBI is directly under the control ofcentral government CBI is perceived to have been often used tosettle scores against inconvenient politicians. It could beseen from the above that if a citizen wants to make acomplaint about corruption by a politician or an official inthe central government, there is not a single anti-corruptionagency which is effective and independent of the governmentwhose wrong doings are sought to be investigated. CB has gotpowers but it is not independent. CVC is independent but itdoes not have sufficient powers or resources.

d) Judiciary – its role on cases pending in trial courts,High courts and the Supreme court:

The court cases pending in trial court, High courts andSupreme Court run into astonishing numbers in India. Evenallowing for new cases that keep being filed, the court runsinto the millions. For those involved in litigation, there isa huge cost in time, money and suffering.

Causes of delay in delivering Justice:

An inadequate number of courts An inadequate number of judicial officers. The Judicial officers are not fully equipped to tackle

cases involving specialized knowledge.

The dilatory tactics followed by the litigants and theirlawyers, who seek frequent adjournments and delays infiling documents and

The role of the administrative staff of the court.

The above are some of the many causes responsible for delayin delivering justice, especially in the case of corruptioncases, pending in several counts for years together.

The following are some of the suggestions which will enableour judicial system to administer timely justice to ourcitizens.

Judges and members of the bar should consider how tolimit the number of adjournments being sought.

E-judiciary must be implemented in our courts. Cases should be classified and grouped according to their

facts and relevant laws. Experts in specialized branches of law such as military

law, service matters, taxation and cyber law, should beappointed as judges.

The quality of legal education in all our universitiesshould be improved on the pattern of law schools.

An exemplary penalty should be imposed for seeking undueadjournments and initiating frivolous litigation.

Judges of High courts and district courts may follow thesuggested model for the Supreme Court and enhance thenumber of cases decided by them by voluntarily workingextra hours or working days and Saturdays.

Multi sessions in courts should be instituted withstaggered timings, to enhance capacity utilization withadditional man power and management structure.

A National litigation pendency clearance mission shouldbe created for a two-year operation for the time-boundclearance of pending cases.

e) Fasting movements against corruption and dilution ofstandards by parliament:

Recently we saw few fasting movements against corruptionand many more get inspired. Let us think for a while, why aresuch movements taking place in our Democratic country. Thisis basically due to the dilution of standards by parliamentitself. Hence, it is suggested that parliament has to discussfor a minimum of two weeks, the issue of corruption withoutwalkouts, and evolve a time bound agenda for eradicating thisevil in public life. As part of this, it would need to evolvea code of conduct for parliamentarians. If people’srepresentatives fail in their mission, then the people whoelected them may express their frustration and dissent in manyforms. Each political party has to take stock of what theyhave done in their own way to prevent or eradicate corruptionthrough parliament. The time has come for both Houses ofParliament to deliberate on this issue of corruption and finda time bound constitutional solution to eliminate this menace,which includes the recovery of money parked in accountsabroad. Such actions by parliament in time will bringconfidence among the citizens and promote peace and harmony insociety which is vital for the accelerated development of thenation.

There is an all pervading feeling in the nation that thetime is ripe for improvement in the effectiveness ofparliament as an institution of accountability and over sight.Parliament can use many instruments for ensuringaccountability of governmental performance such as motions onthe floor, oversight powers, and the committee system. Butthese instruments increasingly need rejuvenation.

Eminent personalities have made suggestions after severalyears of close observation by the functioning of parliament.Some of them need to be considered seriously forimplementation.

(i) In the political plane:

Adopt measures to counter the threat of destabilisationof a coalition government by a small party in the same way asmeasures exist to prevent defection of one or more membersfrom a parliamentary party. A small party (with say less than10 or 15 percent of seats in Loksabha) which opts first tojoin a coalition and then defects can be disqualified.

All parties while in coalition should function under thebanner of a single parliamentary party for purposes ofparliamentary business.

Ministries should set annual targets and ministers mustbe held individually responsible for the actual performance inrelation to announced targets in parliament.

Public funding of elections should be introduced.

Legislation should be made that either house cannot beadjourned more than twice in a week unless the listed businesshas been completed.

‘Voice vote’ should not be allowed procedurally toapprove a bill or legislative business. Counting of votes tobe made compulsory.

The speaker / chairman is required by mandate to suspendor expel members who frequently disrupt the house.

b) In the administrative plane:

Centralization: Transfer powers for internal securityfrom states to centre.

Decentralization: Transfer powers and responsibility forfinancing development programmes from centre to states.

A central commission to be set up to decide on devolutionof all forms of central assistance related approved anti-poverty programmes and relate such devolution to actualphysical performance.

Specialized bodies need to be set up like UPSC for allappointments in autonomous institutions, regulatory bodies andpublic enterprises, banks, financial, educational and culturalinstitutions in the public sector.

Reforms within Government are made more urgently as theoverall rate of growth has accelerated due to resurgence inthe private sector.

New institutional initiatives urgently required forenforcing individual ministerial responsibility for efficientdelivery of public services.

Planning commission should be made responsible forplacing before parliament or report an actual achievements inrelation to agreed annual physical targets.

A Lid has to be placed on the tolerance levels ofcorruption at least at the Ministerial levels. Finally, in theJudicial plane, reform of legal system can no longer bepostponed.

The emergence of multiparty coalitions, as a regular formof Government has significant implications for the workingIndia’s democratic institutions. The role and effectiveness ofparliamentary functioning has therefore proportionatelydiminished. Enhancing the majesty of the role of parliamentis essential, so that its functioning adds considerable valueto the executive in the conduct of its business throughshouldering a great responsibility through parliamentaryoversight. Hence, such reforms are necessary to make the

parliamentary system more liable and more stable to fulfil thehigh expectations of our constitution.

Encouraging parliamentarians to play a more active rolein planning and implementation of socio-economic missions,would result in the emergence of a wide base of parliamentaryleaders and diminish the influence of those who enjoy a‘Monopoly’ in the use and benefits of power. This will alsoresult in a situation of positive leadership that will denyopportunities of entry into politics of persons with a historyof criminal offences and other legal violations. Engagingparliamentarians more effectively to coordinate betweenvarious institutions would ensure effective socio-economicgrowth make certain that multiple agencies and governmentdepartments do not work at cross-purposes.

With frequent nation, state and institution wideelections and short party tenures, the enhanced role ofparliamentarians would ensure effective functioning of theadministrative system as a whole and ensure that the countryneed not repetitively face crisis of government.

The National awakening on issues relating to corruption,governance and others is emphasizing the need for parliamentto act with urgency and acumen.

JAN LOKPAL BILL:

The Jan Lokpal bill is a draft anti-corruption bill drawnup by prominent civil society activists seeking theappointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body that wouldinvestigate corruption cases, complete the investigationwithin a year and envisages trial in the case getting over inthe next one year.

Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (former supreme courtjudge, and Lokayukta of Karnatata) Prashant Bhushan (SupremeCourt Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RT, Activist) the draftbill envisages a system, where a corrupt person found guiltywould go to jail with in two years of the complaint being madeand his ill gotten wealth being confiscated. It also seekspower to the Jan Lokpal to prosecute politicians andbureaucrats without government permission.

Retired IPS officer Kiran Bedi and other known peoplelike Swami Agnivesh, Sri Ravishankar, Anna Hazare and Mallika Sarabhai are alsopart of the movement called India against corruption. Themovement can be described as “an expression of collectiveanger of people of India against corruption”. All have cometogether to force / request / persuade / pressurize theGovernment to enact the Jan Lokpal bill. We feel that if thisbill were enacted it would create an effective deterrenceagainst corruption.

Main features of Jan Lokpal Bill:

An institution called Lokpal at the centre and Lokayuktain each state will be set up.

Like Supreme Court and Election Commission they will becompletely independent of the Governance. No minister orbureaucrat will be able to influence theirinvestigations.

Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for yearsany more. Investigations in any case will have to becompleted in one year. Trial should be completed in nextone year so that the corrupt politicians, officers orJudges are sent to Jail with in two years.

The Loss that a corrupt person caused to the governmentwill be recovered at the time of conviction.

If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed timein any government office, Lokpal will impose financial

penalty on guilty officers, which will be given ascompensation to the complainant.

So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is notregistering your case or any other work is not being donein prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in amonth’s time. You could also report any case ofcorruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off poorquality.

Possibility of appointing corrupt and weak people asLokpal members by the government can be avoided since itsmembers will be selected by Judges, citizens andconstitutional authorities and not by politicians,through a completely transparent and participatingprocess.

The entire functioning of Lokpal / Lokayukta will becompletely transparent. Any complaint against any officerof Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer will bedismissed within few months.

Regarding the existing anti-corruption agencies CVC,departmental vigilance and anticorruption branch of CBIwill be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have completepowers and machinery to independently investigate andprosecute any officer, judge or politician.

It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protectionto those who are being victimized for raiding their voiceagainst corruption.

Major differences between Government Bill and Jan Lokpal Bill:

The country is seeking an approval of the Jan Lokpal Billdrafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (Former Supreme Court Judgeand Lokayukta of Karnataka), Prashant Bhushan (Supreme CourtLawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (Right to Information Activist).

The Jan Lokpal Bill talks about a system where any personfound guilty of corruption will get imprisonment within twoyear of complaint. Moreover, his ill gotten wealth will beconfiscated. The bill empowers the Jan Lokpal to prosecute thebureaucrats and politicians without any permission from theGovernment.

Jan Lokpal has become the voice of India. The kind ofmovement India has seen in the past few months shows howdesperate are the Indians to make India a corruption freenation.

Following are the major differences in the existingsystem and system proposed by civil society:

SL.NO.

EXISTING SYSTEM SYSTEM PROPOSED BY CIVILSOCIETY

1. No politician or seniorofficer ever goes to Jaildespite huge evidencebecause anti-corruptionbranch (ACB) and CBIdirectly come under theGovernment. Before startinginvestigation or initiatingprosecution in any case,they have to takepermission from the samebosses, against whom thecase has to beinvestigated.

Lokpal at centre andLokayukta at state level willbe independent bodies. ACBand CBI will be merged intothese bodies. They will havepower to initiateinvestigations andprosecution against anyofficer or politician withoutneeding any one’s permission.Investigation should becompleted within one year andtrial to get over in next 1year. Within two years thecorrupt should go to Jail.

2. No corrupt officer isdismissed from the Jobbecause central vigilance

Lokpal and Lokayukta willhave complete powers to orderdismissal of a corrupt

commission, which issupposed to dismiss corruptofficers, is only anadvisory body, whenever itadvises government todismiss any senior corruptofficer, its advice isnever implemented.

officer, CVC and alldepartmental vigilance willbe merged into Lokpal andstate vigilance will bemerged into Lokayukta.

3. No action is taken againstcorrupt judges, becausepermission is required fromthe chief Justice of Indiaand even registers an FIRagainst corrupt judges.

Lokpal and Lokayukta shallhave powers to investigateand prosecute any judgewithout needing anyone’spermission.

4. Nowhere to go: Peopleexpose corruption but noaction is taken on theircomplaints.

Lokpal and Lokayukta willhave to enquire into and hearevery complaint.

5. There is so much corruptionwithin CBI and vigilancedepartment: Theirfunctioning is so secretthat it encouragescorruption within theseagencies.

All investigations in Lokpaland Lokayukta shall betransparent. After completionof investigation all caserecords shall be open topublic. Complaint against anystaff of Lokpal or Lokayuktashall be enquired andpunishment announced withintwo months.

6. Weak and corrupt people areappointed as head of anti-corruption agencies.

Politicians will haveabsolutely no say inselections of chair personand members of Lokpal andLokayukta. Selections willtake place through atransparent and publicparticipatory process.

7. Citizens face harassment in Lokpal and Lokayukta will get

Government offices. Sometimes they are forced topay bribes, one can onlycomplaint to seniorofficers. No action istaken on complaints,because senior officersalso get their cut.

public grievances resolved intime beyond manner impose apenalty of Rs.250 per day ordelay to be deducted from thesalary of guilty officer andaward that amount ascompensation the aggrievedcitizen.

8. Nothing in law to recoverill gotten wealth. Acorrupt person can come outof jail and enjoy thatmoney

Loss caused to the governmentdue to corruption will berecovered from all accused.

9. Small punishment forcorrupt: Punishment forcorruption is minimum 6months and maximum 7 years.

Enhanced punishment: Thepunishment would be minimumof 5 years and maximum ofLife imprisonment.

Most of us see corruption as a problem which is deeprooted in our society and which cannot be eradicated. But,history has proof that if committed citizens come together forchange, anything is possible. The case of Hongkong is one fineexample. Hongkong was so corrupt during the 1960s that it wasa open secret and a way of life. And the Government seemedpowerless to do anything about it. But in the early 1970s, oneevent after another triggered off a storm of public protestsand a powerful and independent agency was set up to deal withcorruption. An independent commission against corruption wascreated in 1974 and now Hongkong is one of the most cleanestand corruption free cities in the world.

In a given situation prevailing in India Anna Hazare didhis fast unto death in support of a stronger Jan Lokpal Billto fight corruption. He was on fast in front of Jantar Mantar,New Delhi and asked the Government to create a Joint committeewith top members from the government and civil society to

draft the bill. In support, thousands of people from over 400cities in India and abroad were sat on similar fasts. Peoplefrom all walks of life- students, professionals, activistswere participated in the fast for one cause, a stronger anticorruption bill.

At 73 years, Anna Hazare did not fast for him; he was onfast for the future of our country. It will surely help inspreading awareness about the issue to the general public.

As Gandhian, social activist, Anna Hazare defiantlyproceeded with his 10th straight day of fasting to protestagainst wide spread government corruption. Thousands of peopleflooded the streets and braved sweltering heat to lend theirsupport to the cause.

While Hazare-led movement has mobilized people of allages and from vast walks of life - from a high ranking judgeto the poor and anonymous – one of the groups that figuredmost prominently among the protestors is college students.

The reason is because, just like in other areas ofgovernment, where common people complain they are forced togrease the palms of bureaucrats, just to get things done, thepath to higher education in India is allegedly paved withbribes too.

Several protestors told a diverse writer who visitedRamlila Maidan – where Hazare is fasting on an enclose stage,with a team of Doctors and Doctors at his side – that thecollege admission process in India was littered with middlemen, who seek money, in order to make the dreams of thecountry’s aspirant college students come true.

The fact that corruption exists in the college admissionprocess in India is no secret. Among the headlines for storiesabout corruption scandals that have appeared during the past

few months, several have been students or parents who havebeen asked to shell out money in order to get into college.

For instance, one recent story in the Deccan Chronicle,told about an “Agent” who allegedly cheated a student out of2.7 million rupees or close to $59,000 by promising a seat ina private medical college. When the student asked for themoney back, he received cheque that bounced.

Individuals are not the only one on the take. Thecorruption is sometimes institutional. Recently anotherNewstory, for instance indicated that four engineeringcolleges had been “Fleecing” college student’s by demandingexorbitant registration fees of upto Rs.3000 or $65, severaltimes the allowable limit for such fees.

Such experiences are common place at all levels ofgovernment. Hazare’s anti-corruption protest was therefore sopopular with common people of India from the large urbancities to the rural communities. There is a growing worldwideconcern over corruption at the present time. Several factorsare responsible for this.

A consensus has been reached that corruption isuniversal. It exists in all countries both developed anddeveloping, in the public and private sectors, as well as innon-profit and charitable organizations.

Allegations and charges of corruption now play a morecentral role in politics, than at any other time. Governmentshave fallen. Careers of world renowned public figures revivedand reputations of well-respected organizations and businessfirms badly tarnished on account of it. The International massmedia feeds on it. Scandals and improper conduct especially ofthose in high places are looked upon as extremely news worthyand to be investigated with zeal and vigour. The rising trendin the use of corruption as a tool to discredit political

opponents, the medias preoccupation with it as a highlymarketable commodity and the general public’s fascination withthese prominent personalities in embarrassing situations, havebrought scandalous and corrupt behaviour into the limelight ofinternational attention.

The corruption can be a major obstacle in the process ofeconomic development and in modernising a country. Many nowfeel that, it should receive priority attention in a country’sdevelopment agenda.

This greater recognition that corruption can have aserious adverse impact on development has been a cause forconcern among developing countries. In a recent survey of 150high level officials, from 60 third world countries, therespondents ranked public sector corruption as the most severeobstacle confronting their development process. Countries inAsia and Pacific region are also very much worried about thisproblem and they are in substantial agreement that corruptionis a major constraint that is hindering their economic,political, and social development and hence view it as aproblem requiring urgent attention at the highest level.Increasing public interest and concern over corruption haveresulted in a large amount of scholarly research on thesubject. Admittedly there are still wide gaps in the currentstate of information and knowledge on the matter and much moreremains to be done. We now have a clear understanding of theunderlying causes of corruption, its consequences and ideasand approaches on possible measures to combat it.

Definition of corruption and concepts:

Corruption is defined as the use of public office forprivate gains, or in other words, use of official position,rank or status by an office bearer for his own personal

benefit. Following from this definition, examples of corruptbehaviour include:

a) Bribery b) Extortion c) Fraud d) Embezzlement e) Nepotismf) Appropriation of public assets and property forprivate use g) influence peddling

In this list of corrupt behaviour, activity such as fraudand embezzlement can be undertaken by an official alone andwithout involvement of a second party. While others such asbribery, extortion and influence peddling, involve two parties– the giver and taker in a corrupt deal. The two party type ofcorruption can arise under a variety of circumstances oftenmentioned are concerned with the following:

(i) Government Contracts: Bribes can influence who getsthe contract the terms of contract as well as termsof sub contracts, when the project is implemented.

(ii) Government Benefits: Bribes can influence theallocation of monetary benefits, such as creditsubsidies and favoured prices and exchange rates,where price controls and multiple exchange ratesexists. Bribes can also be important in obtainingLicences and permits to engage a lucrative economicactivity, such as importing certain goods in highdemand and in short supply. Moreover, bribes can beemployed to acquire in kind, benefits such as accessto privileged schools, subsidised medical care,subsidised housing and real estate, and attractiveownership stakes in enterprises that are beingprivatized.

(iii) Government Revenue: Bribes can be used toreduce the amount of taxes, fees, dues, customduties and electricity and other public utilitycharges, collected from business firms and privateindividuals.

(iv) Time savings and regulatory avoidance: Bribes canspeed up granting of permission licenses and permits

to carry out activities that are perfectly legal.This is the so-called “Grease Money” to turn thewheels of bureaucracy more smoothly, speedily andhopefully in the direct direction. It is also notdifficult to think of a really awful situation,where rules and regulations and the way they areapplied, are so complex and burdensome that the onlyway left to get things done is to pay money to avoidthem.

CONCLUSION:

A useful conclusion that has emerged from the currentdiscussion and ongoing debate on the corruption issue is thatcorruption is a symptom deep seated and fundamental economic,political and institutional weakness and short comings in acountry.

To be effective measures against corruption musttherefore address these underlying causes and not thesymptoms.

Emphasis must then be placed on preventing corruption bytackling the root causes that give rise to it, throughundertaking economic, political and institutionalreforms.

Anticorruption enforcement measures such as oversightbodies, a strengthened police force and more efficientlaw courts, will not be effective in the absence ofserious effort to address the fundamental causes.

Another observation that may be useful to bear in mind isthat corruption is more prevalent where there are otherforms of institutional weaknesses, such as, politicalinstability, bureaucratic red tape, and weak Legislativeand Judicial systems. The important point is thatcorruption and such institutional weaknesses are linkedtogether and that they feed upon each other.

Corruption is an intractable problem. It is likediabetes, can only be controlled but not totallyeliminated. It may not be possible to root out corruptioncompletely at all levels, but it is possible to containit within tolerable limits, by honest and dedicatedpersons in public life.

Control over electoral expenses could be the mostimportant prescriptions to combat corruption.

Corruption has a corrosive impact on our economy. Itworsens our image in international market and leads toloss of overseas opportunities.

Corruption is a global phenomenon that all countries ofthe world have to confront solutions; however can only behome grown. We have tolerated corruption so long. Thetime has come now to root it out from its roots.

The main conclusion to be drawn is that undertakingreforms (both economic and political) by reducinginstitutional weaknesses offers the best hope to overcomecorruption. Corruption will not disappear because ofreforms. But reforms will bring it under control andminimise its adverse consequences so that the country canproceed with its efforts to become a modern, developednation with a good chance of attaining that goal.