{"id":1627,"date":"2018-08-20T12:44:39","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T07:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/?p=1627"},"modified":"2018-08-20T12:44:39","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T07:14:39","slug":"prevention-of-corruption-act-1988-20-aug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/prevention-of-corruption-act-1988-20-aug\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPrevention of Corruption Act \u2013 1988\u201c  20 Aug"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_68 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >What's Inside this Blog!<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/prevention-of-corruption-act-1988-20-aug\/#Prevention_of_Corruption_Act_%E2%80%93_1988\" title=\"Prevention of Corruption Act \u2013 1988:-\">Prevention of Corruption Act \u2013 1988:-<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/prevention-of-corruption-act-1988-20-aug\/#How_did_the_current_amendment_come_up\" title=\"How did the current amendment come up?\">How did the current amendment come up?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/prevention-of-corruption-act-1988-20-aug\/#What_are_the_main_aspects_of_the_new_bill\" title=\"What are the main aspects of the new bill?\">What are the main aspects of the new bill?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/prevention-of-corruption-act-1988-20-aug\/#What_are_the_other_aspects\" title=\"What are the other aspects?\">What are the other aspects?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/prevention-of-corruption-act-1988-20-aug\/#What_are_the_challenges\" title=\"What are the challenges?\">What are the challenges?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Prevention_of_Corruption_Act_%E2%80%93_1988\"><\/span><strong>Prevention of Corruption Act \u2013 1988:-<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Parliament recently passed crucial amendments to the \u201cPrevention of Corruption Act \u2013 1988\u201d, to give more teeth to the anti-graft law<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_did_the_current_amendment_come_up\"><\/span><strong>How did the current amendment come up?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>While Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 was sent to a Parliamentary Standing Committee for\u00a0discussions<\/li>\n<li>While committee gave its report in 2014, the Law Commission subsequently came up with an extensive report on the same in 2015.<\/li>\n<li>Finally, a Select Committee of Rajya Sabha studied the amendments and finalised its recommendations in August 2016, and then a new bill was drafted.<\/li>\n<li>The current bill \u201cPrevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2018\u201d passed by both houses of the parliament recently.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_main_aspects_of_the_new_bill\"><\/span><strong>What are the main aspects of the new bill?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bribe <\/strong>&#8211; The Bill describes bribe as an \u201cundue advantage\u201d, on the lines of \u201cUnited Nations Convention against Corruption\u201d, which India ratified in 2011.<\/li>\n<li>Any \u201cgratification\u201d other than legal remuneration (official salaries and perks) received by a public servant can be construed as an undue advantage.<\/li>\n<li>Notably, \u201cGratification\u201d was stated to include things that can\u2019t be measured in terms of money, as well as \u201cgifts\u201d.<\/li>\n<li>As the scope for investigating agencies to misuse the vast provisions to harass public servants is high, the need for precautions was stressed<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bribe Giver<\/strong> &#8211; The new law seeks to punish collusive bribe givers too with up to 7 years in jail and further fined accordingly.<\/li>\n<li>Further, the Select Committee wanted courts to decide the minimum punishment for bribe givers on the merits of the specific case.<\/li>\n<li>In contrast to collusive bribe givers, the bill states that ones who are forced to bribe (coerced bribe givers) to access services shall not be prosecuted.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Problems<\/strong> &#8211; Coerced bribe givers are required to inform the officials of the same within a week\u2019s time since the bribe was given to gain the exemption.<\/li>\n<li>As the situation might not be favourable for all coerced bribe givers to intimate officials within a week, some MPs voiced that the time needs to be extended.<\/li>\n<li>Further, activists have warned that the government officials might delay providing services till 7 days from the receipt of bribe to escape being reported.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_other_aspects\"><\/span><strong>What are the other aspects?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Earlier, the punishment for corruption was \u201ca minimum of 6 years, which was extendable up to 3 years fine\u201d.<\/li>\n<li>This has been enhanced to a minimum of 3 years, which is extendable up to 7 years with fine, which can go up to 10 years for a repeat offender\u201d.<\/li>\n<li>Under the new bill, public servants processing assets disproportionate to his\/her legal sources of income will be deemed to have committed a crime.<\/li>\n<li>Further, law enforcers have been empowered to immediately attach such property of a public servant, until a proper explanation is received.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_challenges\"><\/span><strong>What are the challenges?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>While it is desirable for corruption cases to be concluded between two and four years from the date of filing the case, it usually gets very delayed.<\/li>\n<li>The new law mandates pre-certification by a \u201ccompetent authority\u201d for prosecuting government functionaries at all levels, in order to avoid misuse.<\/li>\n<li>As this immunity was earlier available only to officials of the level of Joint Secretary and above, this is likely to slow down prosecution.<\/li>\n<li>Nonetheless, as a maximum of 3 months time has been set for approval\/denial of permission for prosecution, the government claims it won\u2019t slow cases.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prevention of Corruption Act \u2013 1988:- Parliament recently passed crucial amendments to the \u201cPrevention of Corruption Act \u2013 1988\u201d, to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,73],"tags":[652,199,423,392,390,613],"class_list":["post-1627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-studies-ii","category-general-studies-iv","tag-current-affairs-news-plus","tag-news","tag-triumphias-news-plus","tag-union-public-service-commission-upsc","tag-upsc","tag-vikashvani"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1628,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627\/revisions\/1628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}