Corruption is a malevolent
practice that has to be dealt with very strictly, but India is one of the most corrupt nations on
the globe. Corruption has been a part of the society since the beginning. The
fundamental idea of lokpal is borrowed from ombudsman, which has proved to be
very effective in keeping a check against corruption.
The Lokpal and
Lokayuktas Act is perhaps the main
enactment ever, which has been so broadly talked about, both inside and outside
Parliament. Thus, generated so much awareness in the public regarding the need
to have an effective organization of Lokpal to handle corruption. However, the
act passed hitherto is verbose, loaded with negatives and has various cross references.
Firstly, there
is no law regarding the protection of a person
who informs on an individual regarding corruption. A separate law is required
otherwise the person informing would be under a high risk of life. The officer
against whom the complaint is registered is a powerful person. The judiciary
has been completely left out in lokpal’s jurisdiction.
The other contention like to that
could be pointed out is eventually the bill will loose it’s grip, as India is a
democratic country and new laws are passed every now and then. The Lokpal would be subject to certain
amendments therefore, the powers would be diluted slowly and gradually. Under the
provision lokpal has been granted powers with only those cases which it refers
to CBI. The current provisions are open to abuse, instead CBI shall be merged
with lokpal do deal with such cases.
Now moving forward, there are no provisions as such
related to the working of lokpal,
there should be an additional body keeping a check on lokpal’s functioning.
What if the lokpal is going wrong
somewhere and it needs a body to keep a examine on its working and there is no
guarantee that the person appointed in the Lokpal
will honest trough out. Now talking about the lokayukta, there is nothing mentioned regarding the iostion powers.
States are free to define their own lokayukta,
it’s working and under what circumstances will it serve. In my view, current laws are not sufficient in light of numerous scandals in
India. Apart
from the lokpal other acts are also
not providing a platform to terminate corruption from it’s very roots one such
example could be the companies’ act 2013 provides for
transparency and accountability of organizations accounts is mum on setting up
a compelling inward observing instrument to check illicit acts by
representatives, furthermore guarantee that incentives don't exist to
participate in such unlawful acts. There needs to be an extensive structure for
the anti-corruption machinery, which is unfortunately missing in our nation
today.
The matter of whether the Indian Prime Minister and
higher judiciary ought to or ought not be prosecutable by the Lokpal stays as one of the main issues
of debate. Anna's own candidate chosen for co-leading the joint board Justice
Verma, the previous Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, has communicated his
constitutional disapproval for including the Prime Minister and higher
judiciary under Lokpal. According to
him, "this would foul with the fundamental structure of the
constitution".
The Lokpal
has powers to give directions to CBI, if a particluar case has been referred to
CBI,the officer incharge in that case cannot be transferred without LOKPAl’s consent. The significant defect of the Lokpal
Bill is that it excludes religious bodies and NGOs which represent foreign
inflows to the country,there should be an administrative power to check the
funds and records of these religious bodies and NGO's.
Lokayuktas have not
been furnished with their autonomous investigative machinery making them
reliant on the administration offices, which leaves enough degree for the
government officials and the civil servants to tinker with the procedures of
examination. According to the government Bill, lokayukta is established in every state trough enactmentby the
state legislature with in a period of 365 days. Where as it was demanded to
create a lokayukta along the same lines as the one at the center level.
In the current act there is no whistle blower
provision although in the bill proposed, the lokpal had the power to provide
whistle blower protection as per the provisions.
Further, it is not free from
political impact as the delegating board itself comprises of parliamentarians.
Further more the appointment is influenced as there is no set procedure to
decide eminent jurist. Moreover there is no constitutional backing provided.The
forces, structure and extent of Lokayuktas does not find any notice of the act.
There is far way to go to guarantee transparency and campaign against
corruption are still on but to achieve its goal. There is no enough action for
appealing against the lokpal.
Looking into the current scenario, The political
organization is understandably contradicted to the Lokpal, since the indicated
focus of the Lokpal is for the most part the legislators themselves.
Corruption has become a disease both for the
governance and the society. There have been enormous scams in the past and
every one has witnessed how corruption ate our public institutions. The powers,
composition and scope of Lokayuktas
do not find any notice of the act. There is a far way to go to guarantee
transparency and crusade against corruption are still on and are yet to reach
its destination. Of course, no law however stringent can
be remove corruption from its very root but we can start it with ourselves,
educate people about it, tell them not to give or take any form of bribery. Be
the change you want to see.
As a nation we should take a stand for it. The
problem is not that India lacks laws but there are various loopholes as
mentioned above which pulls it backward and makes the laws ineffective, the
lack of political will shall be held responsible. We need a proper vision and framework
to deal with corruption. Instead we should think of the larger picture and
consequences of our act. If we can create it, the power is within us to destroy
as it well; therefore we as citizens shall practice solidarity.
"The following article is written by Himani Doot, a law student of Jindal Global Law School."
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