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Category: Cancerous Corruption

Vikram Aur Vetal

Cancerous Corruption

Vikram was fond of moving around in the graveyard in the
horrifying night to catch Vetal after day-long practice as chartered accountant.
For Vikram, friendship with Vetal was real education. Vetal being a spirit of
intelligent human frustrated in his lifetime, was still on the earth
posthumously to find answers to innumerable questions lingering in his mind
during his stint as human being. He developed friendship with Vikram. After
playing hide and seek game, Vikram used to catch Vetal in the wee hours of
morning. Then he would put Vetal on his shoulder and tread through the woods of
graveyard. Vetal would laugh weirdly in the silence of the graveyard and
thunder :

“So Vikrambhai, you succeeded to catch me once again, keep
walking, don’t look back, if you speak a word I will vanish. Well, I would tell
you a story of a spiritual guru like Bhagwan Rajneesh, Yogi Mahesh or Satya
Saibaba, well, you are clever enough to get the lead . . . . so our spiritual
guru Baba Ramjay was a very revered person. It was believed, after spending many
years in seclusion somewhere in the high altitudes of Himalaya, Baba established
connection with the almighty. He taught his confused disciples how to live life
in peace and tranquility, how to detach the mind from the mundane world and seek
solace beyond the present life. It was not surprising that he had disciples all
over the world, rich and wealthy. In search of peace of mind they were
squandering their wealth for Baba Ramjay. It seemed that Baba Ramjay’s
philosophy of life was “high living and high thinking”. Over a period he amassed
huge wealth in cash and kind through his charitable trusts or otherwise.
Obviously he was being spied on by the Income-tax Department. I mean he was on
the radar of the Department. A raid was conducted on Baba’s Ashram. On that day
his disciples were celebrating the most auspicious day, Baba’s birthday. It was
believed that he was incarnation of great Buddha. Baba chanted “Om Shanti Shanti
Shanti”. One of the disciples in the close circuit of the Baba announced :

“Ladies and gentlemen, for your kind attention those who wish
to express their gratitude towards our revered Baba Ramjay, we have kept
offertory box”

There was a sudden rush towards the offeratory box. What a
phenomenal impact Baba Ramjay had on the minds of his disciples. They were ready
to sacrifice, though not everything, but something which the government cannot
do through full-fledged tax laws. I think the Finance Minister should learn a
lesson from him how to mobilise funds. Jokes apart, Vikrambhai, Baba was about
to leave the “Dhyan Mandir” (meditation centre). A tall and middle-aged person
full of bureaucratic arrogance barged into the Dhyan Mandir along with his
assistants. Without losing much time he disclosed that he and his assistants
were from the Income-tax Department. He ordered all present not to leave the
place till his further order and asked to hand over cellphones to one of his
assistants. Baba Ramjay sank back in the sandal wood throne. When Baba was
trying to use his cellphone, the alert officer recovered the cell-phone from
Baba. Inwardly Baba was very furious at the audacity of the officer. But Baba
kept chanting “Om Shanti Shanti”. What else he could do ? nothing. The alert
officer was the chief of the raid team. He proceeded further. He showed the
search warrant to Baba Ramjay. Baba pretended to be still in trance of
meditation and said, “My child, I see great future for you, I can read from your
face, believe me, our tryst is pre-planned by the destiny . . . . . Om Shanti
Shanti.”

For a few moments the chief forgot his duty and bowed before
Baba to touch Baba’s feet. But after finishing the ritual the chief regained his
sense of duty as Income-tax Officer the moment he smelled sandalwood aroma of
Baba’s throne studded with precious stones and said mischievously, “Baba I will
meet you at some other time to check how great future I have. Right now I have
to record your statement about your great fortune, I mean your wealth, your
income in the present”

Baba realised that the chief was a hard nut. He was a bit
irritated.

Most of the questions Baba ducked by saying “My team of
Chartered Accountants would explain it, right now I am not aware of it”. It took
two hours to complete the recording of the statement. By that time Baba was a
fully grounded person. Baba realised “reality — not spirituality” would work in
this situation. Baba asked his assistant to arrange refreshments for the search
party. Baba and the chief moved from meditation centre to Baba’s closet.

“Look officer, I have a large number of disciples all over
the world. I have connections with political bigwigs, film stars,
industrialists, leading stockbrokers, etc. They adore me in their drawing rooms.
I don’t wish to waste my time in litigations. Let us now negotiate something
reasonable for you and other members of the search party”. Baba as an ordinary
human being exposed his mind to the officer.

The chief was very shrewd. He did not respond to Baba’s offer
instantly. He was thoughtful for a long time. His silence was killing Baba’s
patience. Eventually the chief broke his silence.

“Look Baba, I have strict instructions from the top, no let
up in the investigations. I am helpless.” said the chief. It was more a threat
than honest disclosure.

Thus the raid proceeded. At the end of the raid the chief and
Baba again went to Baba’s closet.

The chief put all the documents, notings and jottings
incriminating Baba and a couple of his close disciples, which the chief had
secreted from others during the course of search, on the table.

“Om shanti shanti” Baba chanted, staring nervously at the
chief.

“Gurudev, look at all these documents and papers, very damaging, they show your clandestine investments abroad, money laundering, violation of FEMA.”

” know, I know but you would agree that I have not earned any money from doing any “illegal business”, I mean black-marketing, smuggling, gambling or the like, all this money comes from my disciples teaching spirituality, guiding them how to live in peace and tranquility, giving them lessons of Yoga. Most of the donations are being accepted in the name of different trusts. All that money is being spent on philanthropic objects.” Baba made a futile attempt to earn sympathy.

“Gurudev, I am not concerned with your philan-thropic deeds, I know your trusts are doing great service to the society at large. But I can’t ignore all these papers and documents which implicate you individually. You are caught with your pants down.” For a while there was pin-drop silence in the room. Baba was flipping through the documents and papers.

“Why don’t you hand over those papers and documents having my reference as if you did not detect them at all ?” asked Baba staring at the chief.

“Ok, but not without price! What about other papers having names of your confidents, I mean second in command of the your Ashram ?” responded the chief.

“It’s for you to decide. Who am I to direct you?” the chief got pampered by Baba’s unexpected respect.

“Well, all right, I understand, so the deal is struck” said the chief.

Baba scribbled a figure on the paper and said, “Is this enough for you ?”

“It’s all right, but what about others?” queried the chief.

“Oh I just forgot them, how many are they?” asked Baba.

“Seven” said the chief making headcount on his fingers.

Again Baba scribbled a figure per member of the raid team on the paper and stared at the chief for his approval.

The chief hesitated, he asked  for more.

“Okay, I increase the amount as you desire. Can you give me guarantee you will not pocket the amount meant for them ?” asked Baba.

“I would call them right now if you suspect my honesty towards my colleagues” retorted the chief.

“Om Shanti Shanti Shanti, I am sorry, I am sorry” said Baba with a smile on his face.

Baba got a “clean” chit. His team of chartered accountants managed to convince the assessing officer that in Baba’s case everything was on “board”, nothing hidden or concealed. However Baba’s three disciples were implicated to the hilt for concealment of income and violations of different provisions of the Income-tax Act, FEMA, Customs, etc.

So Vikrambhai, my questions to you:

First how do you differentiate between Baba Ramjay and the chief ?

Second, what  works  in any given  situation ?

Third, both Baba Ramjay and the chief are dishonest persons. Who would you prefer as a friend ?

If you remain silent knowing the answers to my questions, I will chop your head with your sword.” Vetal roared.

Vikarm began  to answer,

“Both Baba Ramjay and the chief are social evils. But Baba is more dangerous than the chief. Forget his philanthropic deeds. The chief is an ordinary corrupt bureaucrat. Whereas Baba is an extraordinary corrupt member of the society, he pretends to be ‘spiritual’ for the society at large on the one hand and amasses huge wealth in the name of spirituality on the other hand. I think an avid spiritual person tends to abandon the mundane world in his pursuit to practise the principles of spirituality. Well, the chief has greed for money, whereas Baba has greed for money and ‘image’ both. Greed for image is more powerful than the greed for money.

Answer to your second question, in any given situation it’s not spirituality, ethics traditions or culture, but ‘survival instinct’ of an individual works. This survival instinct varies from individual to individual.

And lastly, I would prefer the chief as my friend instead of Baba Ramjay, Baba Ramjay is more selfish than the chief. He betrays his close confidents. On the contrary, the chief looks after the interest of his colleagues.”

“Vikrambhai, you broke the silence, I am vanishing” again VetaI’s laugh was echoing in the graveyard.

Vikram Aur Vetal

Cancerous Corruption

Vikram was fond of moving around in the graveyard in the
horrifying night to catch Vetal after daylong practice as chartered accountant.
For Vikram friendship with Vetal was real education. Vetal being the spirit of
an intelligent human being frustrated in its lifetime was still on the earth
posthumously to find answers to innumerable questions lingering in his mind
during his stint as human being. He developed friendship with Vikram. After
playing hide and seek game Vikram used to catch Vetal in the wee hours of
morning. Then he would put Vetal on his shoulder and tread through woods of the
graveyard. Vetal would laugh weirdly in the silence of the graveyard and
thunder :

“So Vikrambhai you succeeded to catch me once again, keep
walking don’t look back, if you speak a word I will vanish. Well I would tell
you a story involving your professional colleague which happened in a metro. To
keep the flow of the story I would name my characters one by one as the story
moves on. Your professional colleague, let’s say Gopal, was a fresh chartered
accountant. He started his practice as soon as he passed his final exam. He had
no ‘Godfather’ in the profession and was on his own. He was very enthusiastic
and honest. He was well-versed with the code of conduct of the ICAI. He was
approached by an old man called Purshottam aged about 60 years.

Purshottam retired as chief engineer from a manufacturing
company. Purshottam had four daughters. Only one daughter got married during his
service tenure. Other three were still pursuing their studies. Obviously
Purshottam was financially not that strong to spend on his daughters’ higher
education and their marriages after retirement down the line. During the fag end
of his service he came into contact with Duryodhan, a high-profile government
officer in charge of ‘safety audits’ prescribed under the Factories Act.
Duryodhan was aware that Purshottam was ‘a chartered engineer’ by qualification.
Vikrambhai you know in our country under Factories Act you are required to
observe number of safety measures. For this purpose the factory owner has to get
the report from a ‘chartered engineer’ as to the implementation of safety
measures by the factory satisfactorily.

You may be aware of Bhopal Gas tragedy of Union Carbide. For
the factory owner it is a big threat to its very existence, a small
non-compliance would lead to suspension of manufacturing activity,
investigations and litigation besides huge business loss, so on and so forth.

So this Duryodhan, a hard core corrupt government officer,
made an offer to Purshottam in connivance with the factory owners, to undertake
‘safety audits’. Purshottom was aware that audit fee for a single ‘safety audit’
runs in lacs. However the offer was not without price. Purhottam would pay out
60% of audit fees to Duryodhan that too in cash. Against the 40% share of
Purshottam there was hardly any expenditure, just windfall profit for Purshottam.
So Purshottam having thought over his future financial requirement, accepted the
lucrative offer made by Duryodhan.

Against this backdrop, Purshottam being an honest and law
abiding person, approached Gopal. Purshottam narrated him the modus operandi of
sharing of audit fees with Duryodhan and asked him whether he would be required
to pay any income tax. The moment Purshottam told him that his professional
receipts were likely to cross Rs. ten lacs, Gopal explained him about
maintenance of books of accounts, record and getting them audited by a chartered
accountant u/s.44AB apart from tax liability.

For a week or so Purshottam was musing over the ‘wake up’
call given by Gopal. He checked his audit fees received as per his bank account;
the amount was staggering well above Rs.10 lacs, near about 27 lacs.

So he met Gopal again. He told him his actual professional
receipts would be around Rs.27 lacs whereas his actual expenses would be just
one lac. It was a challenge to Gopal’s conscience and the ethical values he
cherished. Gopal was in dilemma over whether to advise or not to advise
Purshottam about ‘manufacturing’ fake record of expenses like staff salary in
the absence of staff, office rent in the absence of rented office, driver’s
salary in the absence of driver, travelling expenses, etc. to arrive at some
reasonable taxable income. If he did not advise, probably Purshottam would
approach other chartered accountant. He would lose his first ever ‘Tax Audit’ of
his career. On the other hand if he advises Purshottam to ‘manufacture’ fake
record of expenses which would be audited by him, it was a blatant violation of
law and code of conduct of the ICAI of which he was a proud member. Gopal’s
professional career was at stake. Eventually, evil-mind prevailed over his
conscience. He advised Purshottam to create fake record of expenses for the
purpose of ‘tax audit’. Gopal convinced Purshottam that there was no option but
to create fake record of expenses of a huge amount. Purshottam was repenting on
his decision to accept the offer of Duryodhan just for greed of money. Gopal
also confessed to Purshottam that whatever he was asking him to do was not
ethically correct.

Purshottam arranged record for all those expenses as
suggested by Gopal. Gopal conducted tax audit and submitted tax audit report
with the return of income of Purshottam. Nothing went wrong from income tax
point of view, I mean Purshottam’s case was not selected for scrutiny, since
nothing was illegal prima-facie.

Now Vikrambhai my questions to you : who is being protected
by the act of Gopal and Purshottam ? How do you define the conduct of Gopal and
Purshottam ? And how do you differentiate between Gopal, Purshottam and
Duryodhan character-wise ?

“Vetalbhai, first, Gopal and Purshottam were protecting Duryodhan, the corrupt government officer. Secondly, on the part of Gopal and Purshottam, it was breach of conscience but within the framework of law. That is what happens the world over. Thirdly, I would differentiate Gopal, Purshottam and Duryodhan as “the bad, the worse and the ugly” respectively. Gopal and Purshottam were in need of money whereas Duryodhan was in greed of money”

“Vikrambhai you broke the silence, I am vanishing”. Again Vetal’s laugh was echoing in the grave-yard.

Vikram Aur Vetal

Cancerous Corruption

Vikram was fond of moving around in the graveyard in the
horrifying night to catch Vetal after day-long practice as chartered accountant.
For Vikram friendship with Vetal was real education. Vetal being a spirit of
intelligent human being frustrated in its lifetime was still on the earth
posthumously to find answers to innumerable questions lingering in his mind
during his stint as human being. He developed friendship with Vikram. After
playing hide and seek game Vikram used to catch Vetal in the wee hours of
morning. Then he would put Vetal on his shoulders and tread through woods of the
graveyard. Vetal would laugh weirdly in the silence of graveyard and thunder :

“So Vikrambhai, you succeeded to catch me once again, keep
walking, don’t look back, if you speak a word I will vanish. Well, I would tell
you an episode you may find utopian. Gopal was an Assessing Officer in the
Income-tax Department. Occasionally he would take bribes from taxpayers, most of
the times under pressure from the higher ups. Otherwise he was Mr. Clean in the
Income-tax Department. At times he would revere social values. His helping
nature was known to all. But his demeanour was utter nuisance for those
indulging in rampant corruption particularly for Duryodhan, an assessing officer
having his cabin next to Gopal’s. He was always on the lookout to trap Gopal and
demolish him. So he would spy in Gopal’s activities in and off the office.

On that fateful day it was post-lunch session. Gopal was
desperate to ‘settle’ the assessment of Dhanraj. Dhanraj along with his
consultant was sitting in front of Gopal and whispering something as Gopal was
busy on the phone. In the previous hearings Gopal had detected a number of
irregularities in Dhanraj’s assessment. Finally those irregularities resulted in
additional income. Anticipating those additions, Dhanraj being a ‘seasonsed’
tax-dodger had already been hinting Gopal about his willingness to ‘comply’ with
his demand to hush up the case with reasonable additions. It was two days
before that fateful day that Gopal had agreed to settle the case for fifty
thousand, most reasonable amount of bribe for a hardcore tax-dodger like Dhanraj.

As I told you earlier, Gopal was not a hardcore corrupt
bureaucrat. Gopal finished his call and said,

“So Dhanraj, did you bring the amount ?”

“Yes Sir” replied Dhanraj.

Again the phone rang. Gopal was listening intently to the
caller on the other end. He responded,

“I will try my level best to arrange something. Don’t keep on
postponing the surgery of your son, come down to my office”.

As soon as he finished the call his assistant peeped in and
informed.

“Sir there is a call from bada sab“

While getting out of the chair Gopal said,

“Dhanaraj, I will be back in 10 minutes”

Gopal left the cabin. En route he met Duryodhan who was just
returning back to his cabin. They just greeted each other. As usual Duryodhan
addressed him sarcastically “How are you Dharmaraj ?” Gopal did not respond
verbally, he just chuckled nervously. Driven by suspicion and hatred Duryodhan
intruded in Gopal’s cabin. He saw Dhanraj along with his consultant and
overheard their whispering about how reasonable the ‘amount’ was. Dhanraj being
‘old customer’, Duryodhan greeted him with smile.

“What’s up Dhanraj ?” asked Duryodhan.

“My case is selected for scrutiny Sir” responded Dhanraj.

“Any trouble” queried Duryodhan.

“No trouble Sir, the case will be over today only”said
Dhanraj.

” How much ?” Duryodhan.

“Very reasonable” Dhanraj.

Duryodhan got the required ‘ammunition’ to demolish
‘Dharmaraj’ Gopal, he left the cabin hurriedly. Gopal was still with Bada Sab
nearabout half an hour after Duryodhan’s exit. Dhanraj and his consultant were
anxiously waiting for Gopal’s arrival. There was a knock on the door and an aged
person in his sixties entered the cabin.

“Where is Mr. Gopal ?” he asked with bewildered look at
Dhanraj and his consultant.

“Sir has gone to Bada Sab” Dhanraj replied.

The aged person was about to ask the next question, when
Gopal entered in the cabin and hurriedly sank in the chair. He asked the aged
person to take a seat.

“So Dhanraj, you’ve brought the money ?” asked Gopal.

“Yes Sir” Dhanraj replied.

“Hand over that money to Mr. Sudam (the aged person). Let me
tell you in brief. After two hours from now his son aged about 14 will be
operated for heart ailment, the only hope of Sudam and being retired person he
is not in a position to pay for the operation on his own” explained Gopal. The
moment the envelope containing the money was being handed over by Dhanraj to
Sudam, two persons barged into the cabin.

“Don’t move, stay where you are” ordered one of the two.

“We are from Anti-Corruption Bureau” said one. Gopal realised
that he was caught red handed, but he did not lose his cool. Quickly he
recovered from the shock and requested,

“Sir I am guilty of accepting bribe from Dhanraj, but Sir
please let Mr. Sudam go with the money. I am here to face your interrogation.”

Duryodhan, the protagonist of the raid of ACB, could not
control his excitement and joy. He deliberately came out of his cabin to watch
the ‘demolition drama’. Meanwhile the news of the raid spread like wild fire.

So Vikarmbhai, my question, how do you reckon the acts of
Gopal and Duryodhan ?”

“Vetalbhai, legally speaking Gopal is guilty of accepting bribe, he cannot plead social cause behind the bribe since the Goddess of justice is blind. However socially I still hold Duryodhan guilty of manipulating the law to demolish Gopal who by his conduct invoked Duryodhan’s conscience. He manipulated the law for his own convenience.

Apparently one may appreciate Duryodhan for his alertness to unearth corruption. Vetalbhai, you will agree with me that persons like Gopal are always in minority. Further, a manipulator of law is more dangerous than an occasional offender of law in the society.”

“Vikrambhai, you have broken the silence. I am vanishing” again Vetal’s laugh was echoing in the graveyard.

I Hope the Tea is Hot

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This story is of an extraordinary person, the best that I have come across in my thirty nine years in public life. Since he has always been low key and shunned publicity, I would not like to mention his name. I also have to camouflage the identity of the other actors involved in this episode.

About fifteen years ago, we were in the midst of the aftermath of the Harshad Mehta scam. The times were in one respect very similar to, but in one respect very different, from the present. The media was screaming that the corrupt be punished severely and quickly, but there was no 24×7 news coverage, and outside the Government very few people had heard of the Central Vigilance Commission. Vigilance work could thus be carried on the way it was supposed to. Systems, when allowed to function, could still deliver. There is an important lesson in this story, for those who are looking for instant solutions to the problem of corruption.

 I had joined the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) as its Additional Secretary just two months earlier. My room was flooded with voluminous files, and I returned home quite late in the evening every day. Even so, I woke up one fine December morning feeling very relaxed. The sun was shining brightly and the air was very crisp. It had rained the previous night, but when I opened my bedroom window overlooking Delhi Haat, a clear blue sky greeted me. I had got through all the pending files the night before; for a change, I had a little time to myself, and I decided to wear my new suit. When I reached my office at Bikaner house, near India Gate, all hopes of being complimented on how smart I was looking quickly vanished.

“The CVC wants you immediately, Sir. The meeting he was to take in the afternoon has been advanced. He wants HA as well. I have already informed him; he’ll be with you in a few minutes.” my secretary told me breathlessly.
“Thanks a lot, S— sahib.” I said. “Do I have time for quick cup of tea or not?” I asked.

“No Sir. K, his secretary, said you should see the CVC as soon as you arrive.

In a few minutes, my colleague HA entered my room. He was looking after the All India services and the Home Ministry. He asked me “Sir, did you get time to read the case?”

“Yes; I did. I’ve already recorded my note and sent it to the CVC.” “I’m sure you’re aware of the complexities involved.”HA told me as we were travelling from Bikaner House to Jaisalmer House, a distance of about a kilometre. “The man we’re dealing with is honest. Do you know Sir, he has topped in every examination that he has taken. He has all the right credentials and many important people, including some of the CVC’s batchmates have spoken to him. So do be careful.”

I thanked HA for this briefing, but before we could carry on the conversation any further, we reached our destination. In the anteroom, we were greeted by a stout middle aged man who gave the impression of being very competent and in total charge of his little office. The moment he saw us he spoke on the intercom and smiled.

“The CVC is expecting both of you,” he said.

 The CVC was a short, spectacled, fair complexioned person. He looked detached, austere and gentle, but when warranted could be hard as nails. He was also decisive and quick and brooked no nonsense from his subordinates. Every word he spoke was carefully measured. He never promised anything easily, but if he did, he made sure he delivered. Despite an enormous workload, he always had time at his hands and complete control over the organisation that he headed with so much distinction.

He looked at both of us. “Good morning. Do come in and sit down. Hardayal, I have been through your note and gather that both of you are familiar with the facts.”

“Yes, Sir,” I replied.

“So what is the case that the State Vigilance Department has made out?” “They have argued that the officer caused an undue loss to the Government, and an undue gain to a trust in which the then Chief Minister had an interest. He sold a plot of land at a very low rate. The organisation he headed sold the adjacent plot at about the same time at a much higher rate. So, I guess a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been made out. The State Government is seeking permission to prosecute him.”

 “Do you see anything going in his favour?” he asked looking as detached as ever. “HA has more knowledge than I do, Sir; but I do sympathise with him. To be very honest, I don’t think he had much choice. He had to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea”. I said. “Given the circumstances, very few people would have been able to say no. The present Government is prosecuting the Chief Minister separately. They feel that this person also played a part in furthering his criminal design.”

HA then pointed out, “But for this case, we have nothing against him. As an officer, he is rated highly and is reputed for his integrity.” I nodded my head in agreement. I knew the CVC had read the file thoroughly himself. He was making me speak, to test out how much I had learnt in the last two months and get some inputs which he needed. But he had such a pleasant way of doing things that I was totally at ease. Then came the inevitable question:

“What advice should we give.” “I am afraid we don’t have much choice in the matter. We have to act according to policy. If we don’t advise prosecution in this case, we’ll not be able to recommend it in other cases, where power is misused to cause a gain to a private person and loss to the government. It will also be unfair to others in whose case we have already advised prosecution on more or less similar facts.”As I said these words, I wondered whether I had spoken too much.

“What about the extenuating circumstances in this case?”

 “Those will have to be taken into account by the court, if it convicts him. I gather this has always been our policy, Sir.” He gave me piercing look. “It’s easy for us to sit in judgement and use the benefit of hindsight to judge his conduct. Can you imagine what he must have gone through?” I nodded in agreement.

He went through certain portions of the file; he was only refreshing his memory to see if any vital aspect had been lost sight of. He looked up again and said, “But I totally agree with you. There can be no relaxation of policy. These are professional hazards of being a civil servant, but we have to act correctly. Hardayal, the file will come back to you within an hour, please advise the Ministry today itself to sanction prosecution at the earliest.”

Before I got up, I realised how difficult it must have been for him to come to this decision. He may not have spoken much, but I could see that he could empathise with the plight of the officer – his excellent track record must have reminded him of his own career. Whether he knew him at all, I’ll never know. One doesn’t ask these questions. What weighed with him, in the ultimate analysis, was an important principle which he had sworn to uphold: the Commission can’t decide cases on the basis of its likes and dislikes. It has at all times to be fair, objective and consistent in its approach.

When we stepped out of his office, we found the weather had changed. The sky was overcast and it had begun raining again. Since my staff car was going to take a few minutes, we got tempted into accepting K.’s offer for a quick cup of tea. I was in the midst of sipping it, when the CVC opened the door and gave a few instructions to K. I immediately got up in respect as he was talking. Seeing my unease, he smiled and said: “I am glad K. is looking after you. I hope the tea is hot.”

Postscript: the officer was prosecuted and later sentenced to a term in prison. He took bail and then appealed to the High Court. The latter reviewed the evidence on record and came to the conclusion that the adjacent plot of land which was sold at a much higher price was qualitatively different from the plot under consideration; in other words, it could not form the basis for valuing the latter. He was honourably acquitted. His subsequent career was quite uneventful. He retired from a respectable position and rose as much in his service as he would have, had the incident not occurred. In other words, he did in the end get some justice.

The beauty of this case lies in the fact that, at every stage every functionary who dealt with it performed his duty efficiently and quickly. Contrary to what happens often with disastrous consequences, due processes were not short-circuited. As a consequence, the system delivered. Here is a lesson for all those who want a quick fix solution for dealing with the problem of corruption: there is none.

Tackling Corruption Through Corruption Audits

Cancerous Corruption

In a mock trial, despite repeated questioning by the
prosecution attorney on his accepting slush money to compromise a case, a
witness maintained a stoic silence. When the judge asked him to reply to the
question, the witness replied that he thought the attorney was talking to the
judge.


Global phenomenon :

Corruption is as old as modern civilisation and has made
Bofors, 2G auctions, IPL and Commonwealth Games household names. Presently,
corruption has hogged the limelight in the country because of the sheer
magnitude of the amounts involved. It is anybody’s guess that the revenue
deficit of India would have reduced substantially had a major portion of the
money above been routed through normal channels and taxes paid on them. The
phenomenon is universal as evidenced by the statistic that over a third of the €
35.5 billion allocated by the European Union in 2009 for regional infrastructure
projects were affected by errors either unintentional or by fraud. In EU new
member state Romania, journalists have uncovered that two cross-border centres
funded with over € 840,000 are actually being used by regional authorities for
private parties and weddings. The role of auditors in tackling corruption has
been debated for long, but nothing concrete could be legislated due to the
specific nature of an auditors’ responsibility (commenting on the accuracy of
the financial statements) and the fact that the financial statements audited
would inevitably be post the corruption event. A Corruption Audit seems
necessary and inevitable.

Corruption Audit :

A Corruption Audit should be distinguished from a Forensic
Audit, which is a specialised branch of audit that principally covers fraud and
the findings of the audit are courtworthy. The common purpose of both the audits
is to ensure that the economic resources of the entity are not misused for the
personal benefit of either insiders or outsiders. The Institute of Internal
Auditors (IIA) has a publication on Corruption Audit. The publication lists 10
indicators of corruption- general administration, procurement, capital works,
human resource management, privatisation, ministries, government departments,
revenue collecting departments, the judiciary and education. Specific names can
be assigned to each of these indicators in India. In the criteria for Corruption
Auditing, the publication lists procurement of goods and services, consultancy
services and spaces on lease as significant areas. A Corruption Opportunity Test
(COT) is performed on the criteria and indicators to hone specific areas. Just
as in a normal Internal Audit, a detailed audit programme is prepared. A
Corruption Audit is executed with the assistance of a lot of surveys — client
surveys, public surveys and employee surveys being popular methods. The
International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) has been
active in building anti-corruption awareness, but the sheer scale of the problem
and the fact that they focus on Government Audits ensures that these measures
take time to fructify. The Corruption Audit Report would highlight specific
areas that are prone to corruption and would provide recommendations to prevent
recurrence. A Corruption Audit would be the responsibility of the Internal
Auditor who has the time and resources to scale up his audit to meet these
specific requirements. The audit would draw upon the existing policies of the
company such as whistle-blower policies, employee and contractor referral
procedures and past experience in dealing with outside agencies and specific
issues therein. The critical part of the audit would be to ensure that such
policies are drafted, implemented and made to work. The findings of the audit
could throw up specific names or departments that are parties to transactions.
To make such audits work, it would be imperative to question and initiate action
against confirmed cases of corruption and make the findings public.

Tackling Corruption :

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India in collaboration
with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India could consider introducing
Corruption Audits in select entities and for specific projects. Like dope tests
on athletes, they should be surprise forays and should be conducted on all
participating entities. History has taught us that corruption-prone areas are
government tenders, large contracts, auctions and bidding processes. The results
of such an audit could be noteworthy.

A whistle-blower policy on corruption can be thought of as a
remedial measure. Corruption invariably involves two or more parties and is
contractual in nature. Being contractual, there could be individuals or persons
aware of the contract who could be rewarded for whistle-blowing the deal.

Chartered Accountants constitute a key part of the service
economy of India and could be privy to a lot of information on dubious
contracts. They would be under pressure to be a part of the contract or give
their assent to it. They should resist the temptation to succumb and lodge their
disagreement in writing. There could be uncomfortable and embarrassing moments
the first time, which if overcome, will yield tangible benefits over the long
term.

Eradicating an issue that gives the Indian economy a run for its money could
take time, effort and persistence. The key is to make a start.

Extract from the Address by the President, Pratibha Patil, to
the Parliament on 21st February 2011.

Hon’ble Members,

12. Our citizens deserve good governance; it is their
entitlement and our obligation. My government stands committed to improving the
quality of governance and enhancing transparency, probity and integrity in
public life. A Group of Ministers is considering all measures, including
legislative and administrative, to tackle corruption and improve transparency.
The Group will consider issues relating to the formulation of a public
procurement policy and enunciation of public procurement standards, review and
abolition of discretionary powers enjoyed by Ministers, introduction of an open
and competitive system of exploiting natural resources, fast-tracking of cases
against public servants charged with corruption, and amendments to the relevant
laws to facilitate quicker action against public servants. It will also consider
issues relating to the state funding of elections. The report of the Group of
Ministers is expected soon. A bill to give protection to whistleblowers has been
introduced in Parliament. My government has also decided to ratify the United
Nations Convention Against Corruption.

   13. The subject of electoral reforms has been de-bated over the years. I am sure that all parties across the political spectrum support the need for bringing about such reforms. I am happy to share with the Hon’ble Members that my government has constituted a committee on electoral reforms to fast-track the process. The committee has held regional conferences with the concerned stakeholders. This will culminate in a national conference in April this year. It is expected that this process of consultation would lead to a consensus on an acceptable agenda of reforms.

   14. My government attaches high priority to improving the delivery of justice and reducing delays in the disposal of cases. The details of the National Mission for Delivery of Justice and Legal Reforms are expected to be finalised soon. This should result in re-engineering of procedures, improving of human resources in this sector and leveraging of information technology. The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, already introduced in Parliament, is intended to enhance the accountability of the judiciary, thereby improving its image and efficiency.

Hon’ble Members,

    15. The issue of black money has attracted a lot of attention in the recent past, especially that allegedly stashed away in foreign banks. The government fully shares the concern about the ill-effects of black money whether generated by evasion of taxes on income earned legitimately or through illegal activities. My government stands committed to tackling the menace frontally. It requires diligent, sustained effort by all law enforcement agencies, including those of state governments.

    16. My government has taken many steps to strengthen the legal framework, build new institutions, and improve capacity to tackle this problem. A multidisciplinary study has been commissioned to study its ramifications for national security and recommend a suitable framework to tackle it. The government is also working closely with the international community, especially through the G-20, to expedite the process of identification and recovery of such money. India is now a member of the Financial Action Task Force in recognition of its anti-money laundering and anti-tax evasion measures. India has also gained membership of the Eurasian Group and the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development. My government has taken steps to facilitate exchange of information for tax purposes with such countries and entities where Indian citizens may have parked their money. The early results have been encouraging. These steps have led to additional collection of taxes of Rs. 34,601 crore and detection of additional income of Rs. 48,784 crore. My government will spare no effort in bringing back to India what belongs to it and to bring the guilty to book.

News report

Cancerous Corruption

Top service tax officer arrested for attempt to extort Rs.2 lakh


A Service Tax Superintendent, who attempted to extort Rs.2
lakh from a city transporter by threatening him of penal action for alleged
Service Tax evasion, was arrested by the CBI on Friday
night. A person who acted as facilitator on behalf of the tax official has also
been arrested.

According to CBI sources, Service Tax Superintendent, S. G.
Desai, 45, and his accomplice Neerav Mayekar, were arrested from a hotel
opposite Vile Parle railway station when they accepted the bribe of Rs.1 lakh,
being the first instalment of Rs.5 lakh bribe demanded by the tax official.

The complainant runs a ‘packers & movers’ service in Goregaon.
Desai whose office scrutinises Service Tax payment by business establishments
had sent a notice to the complainant saying he had
paid Service Tax at the rate of 3.65 per cent, though he was supposed to file it
at the rate of 12.63 per cent.

When the complainant objected, Desai asked him to furnish
accounts for the past five years and later allegedly demanded Rs.5 lakh to
settle the matter. The amount was finally settled at Rs.2 lakh, of which Rs.1
lakh was to be paid on Friday night. The CBI laid a trap and arrested the duo
while accepting the money.

(Source : Mumbai Mirror Bureau)

levitra

SC judge puts ex-CJI in dock over Raja Ex-CM Vilasrao shielded MLA’s money lender family : SCWhistleblower cop had no posting for eight months

Cancerous Corruption

Justice H. L. Gokhale of the
Supreme Court has accused former Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan of
misrepresenting facts to conceal sacked telecom minister A. Raja’s attempt to
influence Justice R. Reghupathy of the Madras High Court on behalf of two murder
accused known to the DMK leader.

Justice Gokhale, who was
Chief Justice of the Madras High Court at the time of the incident, asserted
that contrary to Justice Balakrishnan’s claim, he had forwarded to the former
CJI Justice Reghupathy’s letter identifying Raja as the Union minister who tried
to lobby for anticipatory bail to the murder accused.

Rebutting the former CJI’s
statement that he had never received Justice Reghupathy’s letter naming Raja,
Justice Gokhale said, “I may point out that Justice Reghupathy’s letter was
already with him (Justice Balakrishnan) and in the second paragraph thereof,
Justice Reghupathy had specifically mentioned the name of minister Raja.”

When asked on December 8 why
he had not told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the former minister’s
attempt to influence the judiciary, Justice Balakrishnan had told TOI that he
had received no complaint from Justice Reghupathy mentioning Raja’s attempt to
fix a judicial order.

Justice Balakrishnan’s
account was repudiated by Justice Gokhale who took the unusual step of issuing a
press release on Tuesday to “clear the erroneous impression about his role in
the matter”. The Supreme Court judge said, “I also informed the former CJI about
the petitions filed in the Madras High Court concerning the incident. Continuity
of correspondence clearly shows that the incident related to advocate
Chandramohan and minister Raja had been brought to the notice of the former CJI.”
‘Chandramohan’ refers to a lawyer, R. Chandramohan who, on June 12 last year, is
believed to have told Justice Reghupathy about Raja’s interest in the
anticipatory bail petition of the two murder accused, a father-son duo.
Chandramohan had handed over a mobile to Justice Reghupathy in his chamber
saying that Raja wanted to speak with him.

Clearly wrongfooted by
Justice Gokhale’s public clarification, Justice Balakrishnan partly retracted
his version to acknowledge that “I had indeed received Justice Reghupathy’s
letter forwarded to me by Justice Gokhale.” He, however, insisted that the
letter did not name Raja or, for that matter, any minister. The former CJI also
argued that “since Justice Reghupathy had addressed his letter to Justice
Gokhale, I as CJI could not have made the contents public”.

But Gokhale’s version was
boosted by the endorsement from Justice Reghupathy himself. “I am thankful to
Justice Gokhale,” the former judge of Madras High Court said.

Though he did not elaborate,
his ‘thank you’ seemed to tip the balance in favour of the SC judge’s version of
the contents of the letter. The episode is yet another blow to judiciary’s
image. It comes at a time when other institutions — from the executive to the
army to the media — are under scrutiny, and can aggravate the unease with the
establishment.

When told that Justice
Gokhale’s press release has put him in the embarrassing position of being called
a ‘liar’, Justice Balakrishnan laughed it off.

This is what Justice
Balakrishnan had told TOI on December 8 : “I had asked for a report from Justice
Gokhale. Justice Reghupathy had also given a report to Justice Gokhale. In turn,
Justice Gokhale sent a report to me narrating how a lawyer had whipped out a
phone in his chamber saying a Union minister was on the line to talk to him. The
report mentioned that Justice Reghupathy did not take the call but it did not
identify who the minister was.”

Asked during the same
conversation why he did not take up the matter with the Prime Minister, the
National Human Rights Commission chief had said, “The report of Justice Gokhale
is still there in the files with the present Chief Justice of India (S. H.
Kapadia). He can initiate action even now on the basis of that
report.”

(Source:Extracts from a story
by Dhananjay Mahapara in
Times of India dated 15-12-2010)

(Comments:Whether the Ex-CJI
should continue as

Chairman of NHRC)

Ex-CM Vilasrao shielded MLA’s money lender family : SC

In a stinging criticism of
Maharashtra chief minister-turned Union cabinet minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, the
Supreme Court on Tuesday said he had abused his constitutional position to
prevent the police from registering a criminal case against a Congress MLA’s
money-lender father and slapped a Rs.10 lakh fine on the state government.
Deshmukh was accused of interfering with registration of complaints and
investigation of an illegal racket in the state’s Vidarbha region in which money
lenders were alleged to have been squeezing debtridden farmers dry, forcing them
to commit suicide.

Shocked by the ‘gross misuse
of power’, a Bench of Justices G. S. Singhvi and A. K. Ganguly said :
“Considering the entire matter in its proper perspective, this court is of the
view that the way interference was caused from the office of the CM by his
private secretary by two telephone calls on May 31, 2006, and the manner in
which the district collector was summoned by the CM on the very next day, June
1, 2006, for giving instructions to specially treat any complaint filed against
MLA Dilip Kumar Sananda and his family members has no precedent either in law or
in public administration.”

In a no-holds-barred
criticism of Deshmukh, the bench not only upheld the Bombay High Court order
directing filing of cases against the accused in the illegal money lending ring
but even enhanced the cost imposed on the state government from Rs.25,000 to
Rs.10 lakh.

A petition before the High
Court had alleged that though there were around 50 complaints against one family
related to Sananda for an illegal money-lending racket collecting interest up to
10% per month from poor farmers in Vidarbha, the police had refused to take
action owing to consistent interference and instructions from CM and his office.

The SC Bench said: “The message conveyed in this case is shocking and it shocks the conscience of this court about the manner in which the constitutional functionaries behaved in the state.” Ripping apart the politically dramatised pro-farmer face projected by the Cong-led coalition government, the SC said the complaint while seeking action against money lenders was categorical — farmers do not get the benefit of various packages announced by the government and the state machinery is ruthless with farmers.

It said the orders passed by Deshmukh asking the authorities to bestow special treatment to Sananda’s family members and protect them from the normal legal process came as a shock as close to two lakh farmers committed suicide in India between 1997 and 2008. “This is the largest sustained wave of suicides ever recorded in human history. Two-thirds of the two lakh suicides took place in five states of Ma harashtra, AP, Karnataka, MP and Chhattisgarh. Even though Maharashtra is one of the richest states in the country and in its capital Mumbai 25,000 of India’s one lakh millionaires reside, the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, in which is situated Budhana, is today the worst place in the whole country for farmers,” it said.

The Bench said: “This being the grand reality, as the CM of the state and as holding a position of great responsibility as a high constitutional functionary, Vilasrao Deshmukh certainly acted beyond all legal norms by giving direction to the Collector to protect members of a particular family who are dealing in money-lending business from the normal process of law.”

”This amounts to bestowing special favour to some chosen few at the cost of the vast number of poor people who as farmers have taken loans and who have come to the authorities of law and order to register their complaints against torture and atrocities by the money lenders. The instructions of the CM will certainly impede their access to legal redress and bring about a failure of the due process,” the judges said. The state represented by counsel Uday Lalit and Sanjay Kharde argued that it had already filed about 25 cases against Sananda under the Indian Penal Code and the Money Lending Act of 1946 and counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi for Deshmukh said the then CM only asked to verify the genuineness of the complaints through a committee and did not ask them to be stayed.

                         Whistleblower cop had no posting for eight months

It was assistant police inspector Ganesh Aney’s firm refusal to bow to ‘indecent proposals’ by the state’s highest political office that resulted in the indictment of former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh by the Supreme Court.

In defiance of Deshmukh’s ‘illegal verbal instructions’ to ignore complaints by farmers against the practices indulged in by Congress MLA Dilip Sananda’s father Gokulchand Sananda, Aney had recorded the exact orders from the CM’s office in their police diary.

“It was on May 31, 2006, that an FIR was filed against Sananda for kidnapping, extortion and illegal money-lending on a complaint of a farmer, Rajendra Kavadkar. At around 1.15 p.m., Ajinkya Padwal, private secretary to the CM, called up the police station and enquired about the case. I told him that an FIR had been registered at 12.15 p.m. Ten minutes later, Padwal called again and said the CM has instructed that no further cases be registered against Sananda,’’ Aney said.

Determined to book the guilty, Aney along with his superior officer Chandrakant Sugandi recorded Pad-wal’s conversation in the police diary. It is learnt that the very next day, Aney was summoned at Varsha (CM’s residence), where Deshmukh enquired about his tenure and was alleged to have expressed his displeasure about the police action against Sananda, who was the Congress’s lone MLA in Buldhana district.

“A week after the FIR, I was transferred to the police training school in Akola. I went on medical leave. On June 5, 2006, the district collector issued orders that any case against the Sananda family should be first reported to the district-level committee and only after legal scrutiny of the allegations should a case be registered,’’ Aney said. The police officer was denied any posting for nearly eight months after he reported back from his medical leave. The is-sue was sorted out after Aney’s wrote to the deputy CM, stating that she would immolate herself in front of CM’s residence.

At present, Aney is posted at Kotwali police station at Amravati, while his then superior, Sugandi, is posted as vigilance officer, caste verification, Nandurbar.
(Source : The Times of India, dated 15-12-2010)

Global Indian CAs

[Beware ! Corruption is injurious to the economic health of our nation]

No bribes for audits :

    Additional Commissioner and Registrar Manohar Bhagaji Tribhuvan (54) of the State Co-operation Department was on Monday evening caught red-handed by ACB officials, Pune unit, while accepting a bribe of Rs.1.5 lakh from a chartered accountant near the Pune railway station. Tribhuvan, in charge of inspection and election in the department, will be produced before a special Court on Tuesday afternoon. Tribhuvan’s arrest has sent ripples across the Co-operative Department as he is ranked second in the Department after the Co-operative Commissioner.

    ACB Superintendent of Police Vishwas Pandhare said the complainant, Jaywant Baburao Chavan (65) of Satara, was a member of the panel of auditors at the state and divisional level, which audits cooperative societies and banks.

    According to Pandhare, Tribhuvan was responsible for allotting auditing work to chartered accountants on the panel. He had allotted the work of auditing the Jankalyan Co-operative Credit Society in Karad to Chavan on May 14, 2009.

    Pandhare said Chavan’s fee depended on the turnover of the co-operative society, which in this case came to Rs.9 lakh.

    “Tribhuvan would allegedly collect 30% of the auditor’s fee as commission for giving work to chartered accountants. Tribhuvan allegedly demanded Rs.2.7 lakh from Chavan, which he was supposed to receive after submitting the audit report,” Pandhare said.

    “On Monday, Tribhuvan called Chavan and asked him to bring the money to his office in Central Building. But Chavan filed a case against him with the ACB. Chavan then visited Tribhuvan’s office around 6 p.m., but Tribhuvan asked him to wait downstairs for him. After some time Tribhuvan came downstairs, sat in Chavan’s car and asked him to stop the vehicle near Hotel Woodland. After collecting the bribe, he got out of the car and was caught redhanded by the ACB officials who had followed Chavan’s car,” Pandhare said.

    (Source : www.taxguru.in dated 9-6-2009)

Leading citizens speak up on graft, lack of governance

CANCEROUS CORRUPTION

The current crisis of confidence in institutions of
governance is an opportunity for reform. Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a
prey, where wealth accumulates, and men decay.

— Oliver Goldsmith


A group of 14 prominent and well-regarded citizens have
written an ” Open Letter To Our Leaders” to express alarm at the “governance
deficit” in “government, business and institutions”, and underline the “urgent
need” to tackle the “malaise of corruption, which is corroding the fabric of our
nation.”

It is a rare move and goes to show how quickly the mood of
the nation appears to have shifted from a sense of satisfaction with political
stability and high growth rates, to one of grave concern over the recent spate
of scandals and the sense of drift in the government which, it is feared, could
affect the growth story.

The letter, which follows a meeting in Mumbai, has been
signed by businesspersons Azim Premji of Wipro, Keshub Mahindra of Mahindra &
Mahindra, Jamshyd Godrej of the Godrej Group and Anu Aga of Thermax; HDFC
chairman Deepak Parekh; ICICI chairman emeritus N Vaghul; former Hindustan Lever
chairman and now Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Ganguly; former Reserve Bank of India
governors Bimal Jalan (also an RS MP) and M Narasimham; Justices Sam Variava and
B N Srikrishna, who heard the Harshad Mehta and Mumbai riots cases respectively;
chartered accountant and architect of key SEBI and RBI regulations Yezdi Malegam;
member of the PM’s Economic Advisory Council Prof A Vaidyanathan and
banker-turned-social worker Nachiket Mor.

Many in this group have played crucial roles towards the
India Story, advising successive governments and at critical junctures, playing
conscience-keepers. Some of them are, in fact, said to be close to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh.

The group has said that among “several urgent steps to tackle
corruption”, the most critical is to make the “investigative agencies and
law-enforcing bodies independent of the Executive… in order to ensure citizens
that corruption will be most severely dealt with”.

“In the last few months, the country has witnessed the
eruption of a number of egregious events, thanks to an active media eagerly
tracking malfeasance. There are, at present, several loud and outraged voices,
in the public domain, clamouring on these issues, which have deeply hurt the
nation,” the letter says.

On the crisis of governance, the letter says, “Widespread
discretionary decision-making has been routinely subjected to extraneous
influences… The judiciary is a source of some reassurance but creation of
genuinely independent and constitutionally constituted regulatory bodies, manned
by persons who are judicially trained in the concerned field, would be one of
the first and important steps to restore public confidence.”

The group has called for the setting up of “effective and
fully empowered Lok Ayuktas” in every state and “early introduction of the Lok
Pal Bill at the national level for the purpose of highlighting, pursuing and
dealing with corruption issues and corrupt individuals”.

Without naming environment minister Jairam Ramesh, the group
appears to tilt in favour of industry in the raging development vs conservation
debate. “It is widely acknowledged that the benefits of growth are not reaching
the poor and marginalised sections adequately due to impediments to economic
development. This is because of some critical issues like environmental concerns
and differences in perspectives between central and state governments,” the
letter says.

The group is also implicitly critical of the opposition for
blocking almost the entire Parliament
session gone by. It says elected representatives need to “distinguish between
dissent and
disruption”.

The G14 has decided to meet again later this month and come
up with suggestions on economic issues should there be a positive response from
the political leadership to its offer, a member of the group told TOI.

(Source: Times of India dated 18-01-2011)

Many parties are being floated to launder money, warns
Election Commission

The Election Commission believes fraudulent political parties
are being floated to launder money which finds its way into the stock market and
is also used to buy jewellery, but has little to do with electoral campaigning
or any other political expenses.

It says tax evasion and dubious donations could be behind a
high number of defunct political parties. The commission says only 16% or 200 of
1,200 registered parties are actually involved in political activities. Most of
the other parties are floated to park money illegally as donations to exploit
the tax exemptions enjoyed by registered political outfits.

Although not all inactive parties are dodgy, several
instances of cash transfers ranging from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, have been
detected by the commission which, it feels, were for non-political purposes.

Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi told TOI, ” We have
repeatedly written to the government about defunct political parties asking for
powers to strike them off the rolls.” He said the commission had proof about
party funds being “channelled into the stock market and also used to purchase

jewellery.” But little has been done to check
fraudulent parties.

Documents accessed through the RTI Act show the EC has been
raising the alarm over a rise in dud parties since 2006.”

The then CEC N Gopalaswami had in a letter to the PM
expressed concern over donations collected by political parties. “The commission
has reason to believe there could be something more than what meets the eye in
these donations,” he said in a communication on July 31, 2006.

The letter said, “Recently the commission has come across
many cases of little known unrecognised political parties receiving donations
running into lakhs of rupees, many times in cash, from individuals and
companies.”

The commission had also asked the Finance Ministry and the
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to examine the accounts of some parties.
RTI documents, accessed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), shows
two registered unrecognised political parties — Parmarth Party and Rashtriya
Vikas Party — received cash and came under scrutiny.

On March 3, 2006 EC secretary K F Wilfred asked CBDT to
scrutinise the transactions.

Parmarth Party received Rs 15 lakh in just one transfer in 2004 while Rashtriya Vikas Party received two “donations” of Rs 75 lakh and Rs 50 lakh from one company within two months.

(Source: Extracts from News Story by Himanshi Dhawan in Times of India dated 14-01-2011)

Corruption — The scourge of India

Article

Corruption is the lack of integrity. This could be lack of
financial integrity, moral integrity or intellectual integrity. When we talk
about corruption in our country we are generally referring mostly to the lack of
financial integrity.


The world bank defines corruption as ‘the use of public
office for private gain’. In this sense only the holders of public office can be
corrupt. The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1983 also defines corruption only in
the context of cases of public servants who hold public office. Corruption in
the private sector is legally considered to be cheating u/s.420 IPC or criminal
breach of trust. Corruption exists in the private sector and the public sector.
It is the root and cause of suffering practically in all spheres of our life
today. Corruption is therefore a scourge of India.

The word scourge is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as
follows : ‘scourge’ as a noun means : a whip for flogging or a person or thing
regarded as the cause of suffering. As a verb it means flog with a whip :
afflict greatly, punish. In short, ‘scourge’ is an act of causing suffering and
inflicting punishment. Our country is being punished by corruption by way of
lack of progress.

When Ms. Indira Gandhi was asked about the problem of
corruption, she qualified that it was a global phenomenon and avoided a direct
reply. Even if we look at corruption as a global phenomenon which is seen in
every society and country, the level of corruption varies from country to
country.

The latest report of Transparency International has focussed
on the sad fact that even the programmes for ‘aam admi’ and those who are
involved in these programmes are prone to corruption.

The Transparency International India Centre for Media Studies
conducted Indian corruption study 2007, a national survey of graft patterns
affecting BPL — ‘below poverty line’ households, categorised the States into
four levels to explain the extent and level of corruption — alarming, very high,
high and moderate. While levels of corruption were deemed alarming in Assam,
Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, & Nagaland, it was
very high in TN, Rajasthan, Meghalaya and Sikkim. It was deemed high in
Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Orissa, Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur. If it is any consolation, corruption levels were moderate in the Union
Terrorities of Chandigarh and Puducherry and the nine States Andhra Pradesh,
Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttaranchal, WB, Mizoram and
Tripura. The survey covered 22,728 randomly selected BPL households across the
States between 2007 and January 2008.

The Below Poverty Line (BPL) households in India paid Rs.883
crore as bribe to avail basic needs during the last one year, according to
Transparency International India (TII) — CMS corruption study 2007. The Police
Department tops the chart with total bribe paid by the BPL households to the
tune of Rs.215 crore, while land records and service comes second at Rs.123.4
crore and housing comes third with a total bribe of Rs.156.6 crore.

The press report gives the details :

Corruption is not new to India, but what is shocking is
that the situation is getting worse, if a global watchdog is to be believed.
India has this year been ranked worse than China on a corruption scale devised
by Transparency International, compared to the last year when the two
countries were on par.

In a report that was released simultaneously in cities
worldwide, the organisation said the marginal slide could have had something
to do with television images of currency notes being displayed in the
Parliament during the recent debate on the trust vote.

India is ranked 85 on the corruption perception index-2008,
while China is ranked 72. Last year both the countries were ranked 72. The
index is prepared on the basis of surveys conducted in 180 countries by 13
international agencies that are associated with the organisation.


The index puts India’s integrity score at 3.4 as against 3.5
in 2007. China on the other hand has a marginally higher integrity score 3.6
this year, while Pakistan with a 2.5 integrity score has been ranked at 134 in
the list and Sri Lanka is ranked at 92 with integrity score of 3.2.

Corruption in our country is a vicious cycle starting with
political corruption, leading to bureaucratic corruption, resulting in
criminalisation of politics.

The question is whether India can continue to live with this
level of corruption. Corruption is anti economic development, anti-nation and
anti-poor. Can something be done to eliminate corruption or at least drastically
reduce the level of corruption in our day-to-day life ?

There is a silver lining that even our worst politicians so
far have not come out openly and said that corruption is good.

Information technology and communication has recorded a
healthy development in recent times. The availability of camera mobile phones
and 24X7 news channels always on the look out for sensational news has increased
significantly.

The most important tools of combating corruption are the
judiciary, the Election Commission and the media.

On the issue of remedial measures we can begin with banning all political candidates against whom criminal charges have been framed in courts from contesting elections, we can certainly stop ‘law-breakers becoming law-makers’. The media and photo camera phones can be used to catch the corrupt and punish them. The RTI Act can be used to expose corruption. I believe the use of RTI Act and use of technology will bring in greater transparency in government and semi-government organisations. Other measures would involve the following:

  • Inculcating value-based education.
  •  Educating the citizens of their rights.
  • Increased use of our judicial system and institutions like the Election Commission and the Ombudsman.

Corruption challenges us, let us confront corruption rather than accept corruption.