theme paper - seminar on black money

7/30/2019 Theme Paper - Seminar on Black Money

1/52BLACK MONEY18 May 2011, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

National Seminar on


2/52

Fou nd atio n fo r Peace, Harm ony & Goo d Governance

The Found at ion for Peace, Harm ony & Good Governance (FGG), New Delhi , wor ks tow ards promo t ing hu m an and

nat ional d evelopm ent and soc io econom ic and po l i t ica l just ice. Its objec t ive is to b r ing about ef fect ive po l icies and

adm inist rat ive m easures to d o jus t ice to a l l and to e l iminate corrup t ion in a l l spheres of governance inc luding pol i t ics,

administrat ion and judic iary by increasing transparency and ef fect ive decision making processes. The Foundat ion

at tem pts to achieve i ts objec t ives by creat ing pub l ic awareness and bu i ld ing mo m entum to f ight against in jus t ice andcorrupt ion in al l i ts manifestat ions. The FGG supports al l ant i-corrupt ion measures by organising seminars, panel

discussions and confer ences and w orks as a l ink bet w een t he p ubl ic secto r, pr ivate sector, c iv i l society and th e peo ple

by prov id ing a p lat form for a l l sect ions to come t ogether and share thei r concerns.

As part o f i ts act iv i t ies, , the FGG has organised events led by em inent jur ists, spir i tual m asters and p ersonal i t ies f rom

various tradit ions and w alks of l i fe including th e Cent ral Vigi lance Com m issione r, Chief Inform at ion Com m ission er and

Chief Elect ion Com m issione r The FGG also encou rages stu dy and r esearch on t he ro ot causes of cr im e, insurgency

and terror ism; whi le puni t ive measures that deal wi th only the symptoms need to be made more ef fec t ive, the

un derly in g causes should b e analysed and id ent i f ied to take ef fect ive measures to el im inate t he basic causes once and

for al l .

Som e of t he recent pu bl icat ions of th e FGG include: Trium ph o f Trut h: Raj iv Gandh i Assassinat io n: The Invest igat ion

by D. R. Kaarth ikeyan and Radhavino d Raju pub l ished b y the New Dawn Press; and Hum an Rights: Problem s and

Solut ions by D.R. Kaarth ikeyan p ub l ished by Gyan Books. M r. D. R. Kaarth ikeyan, President of t he Foun dat io n, is co-

editor of Pathways out of Terrorism and Insurgency: the Dynamics of Pol i t ical Violence and Peace Processes in

Contem porary Soc iet ies pub l ished by New Dawn Press, INC. He has also cont r ibuted chapters in m any oth er bo oks

including, Root Cause of Terrorismby Tore Bjorgo publ ished by Rout ledge-London, and also on Human Rights

publ ished by Un i ted N at ions Universi ty

The FGG also works towards ensuring a fair , just and harmonious social order and equal opportunit ies for every

sect ion of the soc iety to real ize the fu l l potent ia l of the indiv idual and make maximum cont r ibut ion to thedevelopm ent o f the n at ion. As a par t of t h is endeveaour, the FGG has been organising num erous events on m any

aspects of l i fe and gover nance. Som e such events include t he fo l low ing to pics: " Invest in Your self" ; "Self -Care is

Health Care is Earth Care"; " Trut h M ult ipl ier in Ind ian Sto ck M arket" ; "600 -Days in Him alayas"; " Sun Gazing: A Cost

Free Natural M etho d for Good Heal th" ; "Your Heal th is in your Hands" ; The Journ ey Beyond ; Conf ro nt ing the

M enace of Corru pt ion ; The Chal lenge of Black M oney ; Right to Inform at ion Act ; W ater- the Biggest Chal lenge ;

Spi r i tual i ty t he M any Paths ; The Essence of Al l Rel igions ; M arr iage for Peace ; Health and Heal ing The

Natural Way ; Kashm ir W hat Next? ; W ave Genet ics-The Cosmic Panacea; Ethics-Wit h and W ithou t God ;

Nut r i t ional Therapy ; Ensur ing Free and Fai r Elect ion is the Found at ion of Dem ocracy ; Liv ing w i th Cancer ;

Sc ience of M edi tat ion ; Right to Informat ion -Essence of Good Governance ; Ideal Parent ing Em pow er ing

Children ; Being Healthy and Yout hfu l-The Natu ral Way ; Threat of Leprosy, HIV-AIDS and TB in India ; W hy Yoga ; Corp orate Governan ce ; Al igning Peop le wit h th eir Passion s for Success; We ather Forecast in g-Real i ty or M yth ;

Elect ion 2009 and the Road Ahead ; Im pact of Tr ip le Ethics-Real ity or M yth ; Is there a Hum an Rights

Developm ent ; Ho w to save and Invest W isely ; Tools for Tough T imes

The President of FGG Shri D. R. Kaarth ikeyan t ravels constant ly and part ic ipates in Internat ional an d Nat ional event s

promot ing many causes inc luding good governance, env i ronment , educat ion, heal th, human r ights , human

responsibi l i t ies, econo m ic and social just ice, integri ty, inte rfai th harm ony, yoga and spir i tual i t y.

In short , the FGG cont inues to str ive constant ly in every p ossible m anner since th e last s ix years of i t s existen ce for

creat ion o f a bet ter w or ld, by ensur ing a just , harm onious and prosperous soc iety by prom ot ing good governance.


3/52

1


4/52

2


5/52

3


6/52

4


7/52

Repor t onNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON IN TEGRITY

Held o n 18t h Janu ary 2011 at Taj Palace Hot el, New Delhi

Organi sed by:

Fou nd at ion fo r Peace, Harm ony an d Good Govern ance

A Global St eel ini t iat ive

Fou ndat ion for Peace, Harm ony and Good Governance (FGG),102 (GF), Anandlo k, New Delhi 110049

Pho ne: 011- 4 6013255 , 46013266, Fax: 011- 4601 3277www.goodgovernance. in

5


8/52

INTRODUCTION

The Foundation for Peace, Harmony and Good Governance (FGG) organised a day-longt h

Nat ional Conference on In tegr ity on 18 January 2011 at Taj Palace Hote l , New Delh i . Em inentSpeakers and expert s part ic ipated and del iberat ed bu rnin g top ics of t he day. The conferen ce wasorganised as part of Global Steel 2011 ini t iat ive and w as chaired by M r D R Kaarth ikeyan, Padm aShri Aw ardee; President , FGG; For m er Directo r, CBI; and For m er Directo r General , Nat io nal Hum anRights Commiss ion. The recommendat ions f rom the conference are being forwarded to theChair m an, Law Com m ission o f Ind ia, as desired b y Ho n'b le Justice Shr i PV. Redd i.

The conference w as at tended by m ore t han 350 delegates f rom al l over Ind ia and f rom al lw alks of l i fe ranging from stu dent s, social act iv ists, form er and curr ent bur eaucrats, ind epend entthinkers, industr ial is ts etc. Al l at tendees part ic ipated in an open discussion to weed out evi ls ofcorrupt ion f rom soc iety .

Em inent speakers like M r N aveen Jindal, M em ber of Parl iamen t; Dr. J J Irani , Tata Sons; M rAm ar Pratap Singh, Director - CBI, M r Sanjaya Baru, Edit or- Business Stand ard; M r Vikram Chand ra,NDTV; em inen t jur ist s Shr i Harish Salve and Shr i PP Rao an d l ikes highlight ed several issues of greatimp ort ance th at inc luded creat ion of accountabi l ity and t ransparency in Governm ent , ro le of m ediaand devis ing w ays and m eans t o m ake our laws com pl iant. Valedictory add ress of t he conferen ce

w as given by Chair m an of t he Law Com m ission of In dia Hon 'ble Justice Shr i. P.V. Redd i, wh o evin cedconsiderable int erest b y personal ly atten ding inaugural and som e ot her sessions and b y prom isingto cons ider th e recom m endat ions form ulated in the Conference.

The focus of t he del iberat ion s w as on t he fo l low ing three them es.

1. M a king ou r law s com pliant

2 . A cco u nt ab il it y an d t ran sp ar en cy in go ve rn an ce an d

3. Ro le o f m ed ia

6


9/52

INAU GURAL AN D SESSION I

M AKING OUR LAW S COM PLIANT

M r D R Kaarth ikeyan (Padm a Shr i ) , President of FGG chaired t he conferen ce and w elcom edal l the speakers and delegates in t he Conference.

1 . He sta ted th a t it i s w id el y a cce p ted th a t o n ly 10 -2 0 % o f t h e to tal e xp e n d itu r e in so ci alw el fare schem es of governm ent actu al ly reaches th e targeted ben efic iary; rest is gobbled u pby int erm ediar ies. This is on e of t he biggest chal lenges th at confr ont a l l of u s to day - need fort ransparency, accou nt abi l i ty and et hical behaviour. At inst i tu t io n level int egr i ty need s to bepro m ot ed by ral ly ing for inst i t ut ional changes. The RTI Act has rem oved a m ajor bot t len eckin Ind ian dem ocrat ic and lega l f ram ew ork w i th f ree f low of in form at ion to c i t izens on var iousaspects o f f unct ion ing o f governm ent . Ind ia can reasonably be prou d about f reedom ofpress w hich acted as watchdog and repor t ed m isuse o f p ow er, and cor rup t ion .

2 . He r efer r ed to t h e ap p r o ach p ap e r o f t h e Se co n d A d min ist r at i ve Re fo r ms Co m m issi o non Governance and Adm in ist ra t ion t hat w as headed by Dr Veerappa M oi ly, th e present LawM in ister o f Ind ia and q uot ed In the w ords o f Kof i Annan, good governance is perhaps th esing le mo st im por t ant facto r for erad icat ing pover t y and prom ot ing deve lopm ent . W i tho utgood governance no amount o f deve lopment schemes can improve qua l i ty o f l i fe forci t izens. Poor governance generates and reinfo rces povert y and subvert s effor t s to reduce i t .St rength ening governance is precond i t ion to im prove l ives of p oo r. The state apparatu s isgeneral ly perceived to be largely ineff ic ient wi th most funct ionar ies serving no usefulpurpose. Bureaucracy in general is seen to be tardy, ineff ic ient, and unresponsive.Corrupt ion is a l l -pervasive eat ing into the vi ta ls of our system, undermining economicgrowth, d is tor t ing compet i t ion , and d ispropor t ionate ly hur t ing poor and marg ina l izedci t izens. Cr iminal izat ion of pol i t ics cont inues unchecked wi th money and muscle powerplaying signi f icant ro le in e lect io ns. In general there is h igh degree of volat i l i ty in society o naccoun t o f unf ul f i l led expectat ions and poo r del ivery of p ubl ic services.

3 . Th e n o n -n e go t i ab l e r o le o f t h e sta te in f o u r b r o ad a re as n e ed s to b e c le ar l y r eco gn i ze dand reem phasized. The f i rst is in t he area of pub l ic order, just ice and rule o f law. Defic iencieson th is f ront have led t o d ec line in t rust in t he sta te 's capaci ty t o p ro tect l i fe , l iber t y andpro pert y w hi le enforcing ci t izens' r ight s. This in t urn has aggravated t he t end ency to resortto v io lence and cr ime to obt a in ro ugh and ready just ice , prom ote sectar ian in terests , and toachieve ideo logical goals. Ensurin g access t o speedy an d eff icient ju st ice, pro te ctin g r ights ofci t izens, enforcing rule of law, and m aintain ing pub l ic ord er are al l inseparable and t hey for mbedro ck of a civ i lized society and sou nd l iberal dem ocracy. Def ic iencies in t h is v i ta l area needto be p lugged t hrough jud ic ia l and po l ice re form s, bet t er c i t izen p ar t ic ipat ion in governance,t ransparency and m ore e f fect ive and in tegrated approach to pub l ic order m ain tenance.

7


10/52

4 . Pe r va si ve co r r u p t i o n i s t h e mo st d i stu r b i n g e le me n t o f o u r go ver n an ce . Hap p i ly,

recent years w i tn essed encouraging trend s in som e sectors; w herever com pet i t io n, cho ice,tran sparency and techno logy have been introd uced, corr upt ion has dram atically declined.However, in certa in core sectors where the state 's ro le is cr i t ical , corrupt ion cont inuesunchecked. There are signs of grow ing corr upt ion in som e of t he stat e-cont rol led secto rs,ind icat ing a sh i f t f rom t rad i t iona l forms of cor rupt ion to innovat ive ways and means toachieve corrupt objects. Pol ice, cr iminal just ice system, heal thcare del ivery, publ icprocurement, contract ing, transfers and post ings of off ic ia ls, tax col lect ion and landadministrat ion are areas, which are by nature fu l ly or substant ia l ly state-control led.Corru pt ion is e i ther cont inu ing or grow ing in th ese sectors as the inexhaust ib le dem and fori l legi t imate funds in our governance system cont inues unabated. Clear ly far-reachingpol i t i ca l and e lectora l re forms to t ransform our po l i t i ca l cu l ture and a l ter the nature o fincent ives in pub l ic l i fe are the n eed of t he ho ur.

5 . M r. Ka ar th i ke ya n al so r efer r ed to t h e fo u r th re p o r t o f t h e Se co n d Ad m in ist r at i veReform s Com m ission o n Eth ics and Governance subm i t ted to th e Governm ent on January2007 and q uot ed, In tegr ity is m uch m ore t han f inancial honesty. Publ ic o f f ice shou ld betreated as a t r ust .

There are tw o facets to cor rupt ion:

(1) The inst i t u t ion w hich is h igh ly cor rupt ;(2) Individuals w ho are highly corrup t.

There is a need to work on pub l ic pro f i teer ing and va lue to be a t t r ibuted to theservices rend ered b y of f icers. Inter locking accou nt abi l i ty is a process by w hich evaluat ioncould be d on e easi ly and account abi l i ty ensured. Bui ld ing tr ust and conf idence requ ires anenvironm ent w here t here is a prem ium on t ransparency, op enness, bo ldness, fa i rness andjust ice . W e sh o u ld e n co u rage t hese at t r ib u t es. On e o f t h e p ro b lem s is t h at t h e p resent co desof condu ct are not d i rect and to th e po in t . They are fu l l o f vague serm ons that rarely ind icateproh ib i t ions d irect ly. For fo rm ulat ing a code o f e t h ics, i t w ould be usefu l to keep in m ind t headvice of N apoleon w ho said,-Law sho uld be so succinct th at i t can be carr ied in t he po cket o fth e coat and i t shou ld be so s im ple that i t can be understoo d by a peasant . W hi le it m ay notalways be po ssible to establ ish t he cr im inal offence of m isappro pr iat ion in a cou rt of law, theGovernm ent servant can st i l l be rem oved fro m service for causing ser iou s m on etary loss tot he Stat e.

6 . H e w e n t o n t o ad d , A ll p ro ce du r es, law s an d r egu lat i o ns t h at b r e ed co r r up t io n an dcom e in th e w ay of eff ic ient del ivery system w i l l have to be el im inated. The per verse systemof incent ives in pub l ic l ife , wh ich m akes cor rupt ion a h igh re tu rn low r isk act iv i ty, need to beaddressed. In th is context , pub l ic example has to be made out o f people convic ted on

8


11/52

corrup t io n charge and t he legal process in such cases has to be exped i ted. This hopefu l ly, w i l l

a lso address the growing permissiveness in the society, in the more recent t imes, to thepheno m enon o f cor rupt ion. In add i t ion, w i th changes in econom ic po l icy regim e, regu la torybodies th at gu ide and m oni to r fun ct ion ing o f the re levant econom ic agents should lay dow nrules of condu ct in t he int erest s of con sum ers and devise such pract ices th at help eff ic ientfunct ion ing o f t he system . Such steps w i ll have to be t aken in m any sectors o f th e econom ytha t a re now be ing opened up . A t t he same t ime , soc ia l mon i to r ing th rough em pow eredautono m ous and cred ib le st ru ctures wi l l have to be estab l ished even for th e h ighest o f t hepubl ic o f f ices. Right to in form at ion h as to be t he star t ing po in t for som e of th ese changes .

7. He refer red t o t he co nclu din g w o rd s o f Dr VeerappaM o i l y w here in he says, We

always f ind al ib i for our lapses by quo t in g t respass from ot her dem ocrat ic inst i tu t ions, byresort ing to a blam e gam e. The execut ive/ civ il services blam e inter feren ce by the p ol i t icalexecut ive o r legislatures and vice versa; legislators blam e t he ju diciary and vice versa t hem ain prob lem l ies in each on e leaving space for ot hers to occupy. I f any of th e dem ocrat icinst i tut ions leaves space, the mafia or extra-const i tut ional author i ty occupies that space.Real izat ion of i ts own author i ty and discharging i ts sphere of responsibi l i ty, developingaccountabi l i ty and responsiveness are the real solut ions to the conf l ict ing si tuat ions oferod ing dem ocrat ic po l i ty .

8 . He co n clu d ed h is w e lco m e an d in t r o d u cto r y sp e ech b y q u o t i n g a n an ci en t su b h ash i t

(good m essage) Rivers do not dr ink t he i r w aters th em selves, nor do t rees eat th e i r f ru i t ,nor do t he c louds eat t he grains ra ised by t hem . The w ealth o f t he no b le is used so lely for t hebenef i t o f o t hers.

M r Naveen Jindal , M em ber of Par l iam ent

In h is br ief speech, M r. Jindal em phasized im por tance of integr i t y in pu bl ic li fe, pr ivatel i fe as w el l as in corpo rate secto r. The you nger generat ion, fro m an ear ly age, sho uld b etaught t o be honest so t hat t hey becom e idea l c it izens o f th e fu t ure . Regard ing cor ru pt ionprevai l ing in our everyday l i fe, he opined t hat t ransparency in India to day is h igher t han w hat

i t w as a few years back. He op ined th at th e w hole m edia shou ld not be b lamed fo r a cor ru ptfew. He a lso o bserved t hat i t i s not a lw ays possib le for corporate s t ructures to w ork w i th in acorporate s t ructure wi thout indu lg ing in cor rupt ion- a honest confess ion that was wel lapprec ia ted by t he august gather ing. He a lso p o in ted out th at i t is not cor rect to labe l a llbureaucrats; pol i t ic ians and businessmen corrupt, in fact a few of them are so and havetaint ed t he ent i re canvas. To conclude he called for un anim ous effor t to ensure transparencyand in tegr i ty in Governm ent and corporate st r uctures.

Dr W ajahat Habibul lah, Form er Chief Inform at ion Com m issioner

Dr Habibu l lah, po in t ing out im por t ance o f t he Right t o In form at ion Act , op ined t hat

scand als are expo sed on ly due t o t he effect ive fun ct ion ing of t he Act. He str essed t he need

9


12/52

to e l iminate poverty by effect ive use of The RTI ACT through proper emancipat ion of

in form at ion. He op ined t hat m edia has been successfu l in br ing ing to l igh t th e th ree m ajorscam s that have hi t th e nat ion recent ly- t he Ad arsh Ho using Case, 2G Scand al and t he CW CM enace. He lam ented on th e sta tu t es o f o utd ated bureaucrat ic st ru cture , and t he i r inab il ityto care for t he on es in need. He also po in ted ou t th at t he ex ist ing ins t i tu t ion s have not beensuccessful in prevent ing and cont rol l ing corr upt ion. He rei terated t he need t o develop anef fect ive inst i t u t ion to prevent and ar rest cor ru pt ion.

Dr Sub has C Kashyap, Em ine nt Con st it ut io nal Exper t

Dr Kashyap pointed out that the nat ion has been recent ly facing corrupt ion cases of

m ind- boggl ing propor t ions th at have tarn ished ou r im age in f ront o f t he nat ion as w el las th e w or ld . Lack o f in tegr i ty and cor rupt ion has becom e a l l pervasive, om nipot ent andom nipresent . He po in ted out t hat a ll our great inst i t u t ions the leg islatu re , th eexecut ive, the jud iciary and even th e m edia stand s exposed w i th ero ded int egr i ty. He

t halso op ined t hat th e exist ing law s, som e of w hich be long to t he 19 century, have notbeen ab le to stem th e ro t and t he Law Comm ission can on ly recomm end changes in thered un dant law s. The exist ing Cr PC, IPC, Preven t ion of Cor ru pt ion Act, CVC Act et c havenot been ab le to ar rest cor rupt ion. He po in ted out th e fo l low ing as need of t he hour :

? A credible Lokp al Bi l l to be passed. I f th e Par l iam ent do es not fun ct ion , th is can be

done in the fo rm o f an Ord inance.? The Right to In format ion Act shou ld be made a fundamenta l r ight . The ex is t ing

loopho les in the Act need t o be p lugged.

? In a l l cor rup t ion cases, a ll p roper t y o f th e cor rupt shou ld be conf iscated and t hereshould be a new law to regu late t he funct ion ing o fpo l i t ical part ies.

? Anyone go ing abroad m ust dec lare about th e i r account s abroad; any fa lse stat em entth ereof m ust lead to conf iscat ion o f pro per t y.

?Electora l law s shou ld be am ended t o pro v ide for 50% plus votes to be n ecessary t o getelected, reducing cost of e lect io n, pub l ic fun ding in kind et c. sho uld be int rodu ced. Allgeneral e lect ion s to b e held sim ul tan eously as far as possible. Also anyon e charged bycourt for cr iminal cases to be disqual i f ied from contest ing elect ions t i l l they arecleared. Ones w i th ser ious offences to be barred f rom contest ing elect ions for l i fe andsi t t ing m em bers, i f conv icted, to be ceased f rom be ing m em bers any m ore t i l l th ey arecleared.

? Regarding law s to r egulate po l i t ical part ies, he op ined t hat a new law should b e put inp lace for loo k ing in to th e m at ters o f th e i r regist ra t ion, recogni t ion (making 5% of to ta l

votes of the nat ion compulsory for recognizing i t as a nat ional party) , e l ig ib i l i tyregarding cont est in g elect ions etc.

10


13/52

? Pol ice to be f reed f rom po l i t i cal m isuse, Po l ice Com m ission repor t to be im plem ented,

fresh pol ice law s to be enacted.? Regula tory fu nct ions o f t he Un ion and th e sta te execut ive to be rest r icted by law.

? Al l state f un ct ion ar ies including governm ent off ic ia ls, e lected persons etc to d eclaret heir assets and l iabi l i t ies every year for pu bl ic infor m ation

? Cit izens to be guaranteed by law t im ely sett lem ent of t ax ret urn s, issue of rat ion cards,passpo rt s, house plan sanct io ns etc. to avoid delays and corr upt ion

? Judicia l reform s in t he f ie lds of appo intm ent of ju dges, enquiry against judicia l delays

and corrupt ion, speedy and affordable just ice del ivery system, use of ADRm echanism s etc.

I f cor rupt ion ceases to y ie ld r ich d iv idends and pun ishment becomes cer ta in anddet errent , then i t can be redu ced and w i l l f inal ly be el im inated, he observed. There is a lso aneed t o look a t th e law -makers and check w heth er th ey have any vested in t erests , he op ined.

Dr J J Iran i, Di recto r, Tat a Sons.

Dr Irani took r eference of a few real li fe exam ples t hat h is organizat ion fo l low s in ord erto deal wi th corrupt ion, v iz the Tata Elect ion Trust, which provides donation to pol i t ical

part ies based o n cert a in el igib i l i ty cr i ter ia and is guided b y pre-decided rules. He em phasizedt he n eed t o p rovide cou rses on bu siness eth ics in B-schools in ord er t o create a society f u l lo f men and women of character . Tak ing an apt example o f a baby who is not born as acor rupt , he op ined t hat i t i s th e duty o f t he parents, th e teacher and the env i ronm ent ingenera l, to en sure t hat i t rem ains so t hroughout i ts li fe - a legacy to be passed on to th e fu t uregenerat ions too . Urging all to speak out against th e corrup t , he conclud ed by saying that t hegreatest asset o f t he few cor rupt is si lence and apathy o f m ajor i ty o f honest peop le - apract ice that n eeds to be don e away w i th a t t he ear l iest .

M r A m ar Pratap Singh, Director, CBI

M r Am ar Pratap Singh op ined t hat t here is a need t o change the cr im ina l just icesystem in India. He inform ed t hat t he CBI is a lm ost 50% shor t o f i t s sanct ion ed str ength o finvest igators. Whi le CBI puts to tr ia l around thousand cases a year, near ly ten thousandrem ain p ending out o f w h ich 25% are m ore t han t en years o ld . He suggested a few changes inth e exist ing system th at included ci t izen-fr iend ly registrat ion of cr im e, use of com put ers andCCTVs in pol ice stations, starting of onl ine fi l ing of pol ice cases, video recording ofs ta tement s and confessions of accused that can be produced in courts dur ing tr ia l ,amendment of the CrPC and the Evidence Act, and comprehensive reclassi f icat ion ofo f fences. He also op ined t hat m ost o f t he law s, bo th substant ive as w el l as pro cedural, we r e

enacted a century ago. Cr iminal i ty has undergone a sea change both quant i tat ively and

11


14/52

SESSION II

ACCOU NTABILITY & TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNAN CE

M r Prakash Singh , For m er Directo r General, Bor der Securit y Force.

M r Singh op ined th at cor rupt ion is th e sing le thread t hat is com m on t o a l l p rob lem s in

India viz. Naxal ism , M aoist m enace, pro blem s in t he No rt h East , Jam m u & Kashm ir.Corru pt ion has cr ipp led in to governance thereby creat ing a fee ling o f d epr ivat ion am ongstmasses and aggravat ing part ic ipat ion of the depr ived in ant i -establ ishment movements,m ost recen t and p rom inent am ong them be ing the M ao ist m ovement t ha t has th rea tenedin terna l secur i ty o f t he nat ion . Governm ent h as t r ied to p lay i ts ro le and h as been pu m ping inhuge fund s for p roper d eve lopm ent o f th e 223 M aoist -a f fected d ist r ic ts across 20 sta tes o fthe Ind ian Union. But the prob lem is that these funds hard ly reach the in tendedbenef ic iar ies and is absorb ed som ew here in bet w een by corrup t interm ediar ies. Lack ofaccountab i l ity and t ransparency has added to th is prob lem . It i s cor rupt ion t hat saps out th estrength o f th e nat ion and m akes i t vu lnerab le to d iv isive forces, bot h in t erna l and externa l .

qual i tat ively over the years. To keep up wi th the rapidly evolving cr ime scenar io i t is

im por t ant fo r t he cr im ina l just ice system to take a step ahead. Therefore th e apparatu sdesigned for invest igat ion has to be equ ipp ed by law s and procedures th at are not on lyfun ct ion al in th e present con text b ut a lso have the f lexib i l i ty and feasibi l i ty to t ake care offu t ure needs. The invest igators , therefore , need to be t ra ined in in form at ion t echnology,know ledge of th e econom y, new dynam ics o f soc ial eng ineer ing, e f f icacy and u se o f m odernfor ensics etc., he add ed.

M r D C Gup ta, Form er Finance Secretary, Governm ent of India

M r Gupta po in ted ou t tha t the re i s no law to con f i scate p roper t y o f the co r rup t . Hence ,corru pt feels th at he can get aw ay w i th w hatever he d oes and t h is is tr ue in a lm ost a l l cases.

He st ressed t he need for en forcing Lokp al Bi l l . The effect ive rate o f t ax for Corp orates w orksout to be only 22% instead of 34%, he opined. This is due to the var ious incent ives andconcessions meted out to th em f rom t im e to t im e, he clar i f ied . He a lso expressed concern onth e cyn icism and lack o f values observed in yout h o f tod ay, a fal l out o f consum er ism in t herapidly changing society. He also lam ent ed t hat w e al l are aw are w here t he shoe pinches, bu tdo no t da re to mend i t .

12


15/52

M r J M Garg, Vigilance Com m ission er, Cent ral Vigilance Com m ission

M r Garg in form ed t hat in Ind ia cor ru pt ion is also o n r ise as econom y grow s. In fact ,st t h

Ind ia has sl ipped f rom 71 posi t i on in 2001 to 85 posi t i on cu r ren t l y in Cor rup t ionPercept ion Index, he added. He a lso t r ied t o s t r ike a cor re la t ion bet w een cor rupt ion andinf lat ion op ining th at i f f iscal def ic it can be red uced, inf lat ion can b e checked. But s ince th ereis no fear fo r being corru pt , a huge am ou nt is up fo r grabs. Thou gh lot o f in i t iat ives has beentaken by t he CVC, India has sl ipped dow n in t he CPI (Corr upt ion Percept io n Ind ex). Thisbasical ly m eans th at t here has been degradat ion in m oral f iber o f t he society. He also u rgedyout h t o t ake up th e f ight against th is m enace and becom e respon sib le ci t izens o f fu t ure .W ith such a youn g coun t ry l ike India, he ob served, t here is a need t o use techno logy and

auto m ation p rocess. He also infor m ed t he audience abou t Project Vigeye (Vigi lance Eye), aci t izen-centr ic in i t iat ive of the CVC, wherein ci t izens can jo in hands wi th the CentralVigi lance Com m ission in f ight ing corr upt ion in India.

M r A rvin d Kejr iw al, RTI and Social Act iv ist

1 . M r Ke jr iw a l o b se r ve d th a t in sp i t e o f se ve ral scam s th a t h ave b e en d u ly re p o r ted b ym edia, no one gets punished o r goes to ja i l, in fact in m ost cases FIRs are also n ot registered .The ex ist ing laws have cont rad ic t ion w i th in t hem selves. He po in ted o ut th at t he t hree ant icor rupt ion agencies ava ilab le w i th th e centra l governm ent t he Depar tm enta l V igi lance,

CVC and the CBI have been a mockery in themselves. In many cases of departmentalenquir ies, f ie ld off icers double up as vig i lance off icers and receive complaint againstth em selves th at th ey need to enqui re ! Som et im es th ey are requ i red to star t d epar tm enta lenqu ir ies against t heir super iors, w hich is pract ical ly im possible. The CVC, on th e ot herhand, wi t h 30-40 o f f icers a t i ts com m and has to enq ui re in to cor rup t ion o f m ore than 1500governm ent depart m ent s som e as big as th e Incom e Tax, Rai lways, Custom s a hum anlyim possib le act iv i ty . Hence i t fu nct ions just l i ke a post o f f ice- forw ard ing docum ents to th erespect ive depar t m ents for in i t iat ing depar tm enta l enqui ry. The recom m endat ions o f CVC,an advisor y bod y, are hardly accept ed by Govern m ent and i f at a l l accepted , the sever i t y isredu ced. Also, CBI has lost i t s indep enden t statu re and is redu ced to b e a mer e pup pet in t he

hands o f t he par ty in pow er.

2 . He p r o p o se d fo r ma t i o n o f a p o w e r ful b o d y in In d ia sim i la r t o ICA C, th e an t i co r r u p t i onorganizat ion o f Hong Kong, in order t o curb cor rupt ion in Ind ia . It shou ld be independ ent o fany po l i t i cal in f luence and should have th e po w er t o invest igate and p rosecute , he op ined.He a lso s t ressed on th e need for im plem entat ion o f Lokpal Bi l l. He vehem ent ly opp osed t hepropo sed Ordnance to be inst i tu t ed by th e Law M in ist r y regard ing fast t rack ing o f casesagainst pol i t ic ians. He fe l t that the provisions of the Ordnance wi l l d i lute the exist ingprov isions recomm ended in Lokpal B il l and w i l l be h igh ly t i l ted to w ards th e par ty in p ow er.

13


16/52

Dr J N Chau bey, For m er Ad visor, Wo rld Bank & UNICEF

Dr Chaubey stressed on the need to develop adequate ex-ante measures to arrestcorru pt ion at t he ear l iest stage in a l l w ings of t he governm ent , the Execut ive, th e Jud iciaryand t he Leg islatu re so t hat i t does not reoccur. He op ined t hat t he Law M in ist r y can t ake upt he ex-po st m easures of pun ishing th e gui l ty. He opin ed t hat a capaci ty poo l ing of d i f ferentdepar tm ents led by t he P lann ing Com m ission m ay be inst i tu t ed so th at necessary re form s toar rest cor rupt ion may be meted out . He a lso op ined that there should be a systemat icaccountab i l ity o f t he Law M in ist r y to present a schem e of re form s th at th e M in ist r y want s tounder t ake dur ing Budget . He also po in ted ou t t hat there are on ly four pr inc ip les o finst i t u t iona l re form s that are requ i red for ar rest ing cor rupt ion. They are :

a. Com pet i t ion : a llow ing choices on t he supply side as w el l as t he dem and side e.g.multiple places for f i l ing FIRs, drug testing by several certi f ied agencies, openauct ion s, provide grace per iod for cou nt er b ids etc.

b. Par t ic ipat ion: an inst i tu t iona l var iant o f compet i t ion ; a l lowing both s ides tom oni to r and evaluate th e serv ices.

c. Transparency: to t he cl ient , before th e event, recou rse after t he event .

d. Account ab i li ty : to th e dem and s ide separat ing t he cha in o f cont ro l .

He stressed on the need for systematic regular upgradat ion of Inst i tut ions so thatgrow th o f t he nat ion is not defer red or d istu rbed. He op ined t hat t he Plann ing Com m issionm ust p lay a pivot al ro le in th is regard.

M r L V Sapt har ishi, Co-Chairm an, Con federat io n o f N GOs in Rural India

M r Sapthar ish i po in ted o ut prevalence o f fam i ly or iented w ealth accum ulat ion byleaders of po l i t ical part ies in India. W idespread concessions have led to di lut ion o f values, heop ined, th ereby jeopard izing the concept of int egr i ty in pu bl ic l i fe. He also str essed on t heneed t o in t roduce a system to reward t he ho nest and courageous so t hat o ne and a l l fee l the

urge to do aw ay w i th cor rupt ion. He also sa id t hat i t w as for t he person a t t he he lm of a f fa irsin any inst i t u t ion to m ain ta in the im age of i t , and no t t ake advantage o f i t . The found at ion o fa great nat ion l ike India is la id by th e teachings of o ur great for efathers, w e need t o go back toth ose va lues and t r y to in fuse t h is value system in t he m inds o f t he ind iv idua ls, he op ined.

M r Sali l Bhandar i, President , PHD Cham ber o f Com m erce

Integr i ty is the w ho leness of b eing to b e m oral ly soun d and stands for a set o f values,op ined M r Bhandar i . A l l system s, w heth er natura l or m anm ade, need to have a coord inatedm echanism of checks and ba lances for t hem to p er form and de l iver - one w i tho ut t hat w i l l

14


17/52

spin out of control , he added. Such loose end systems are not sustainable and performm om entar i ly, eventu a lly to fa ll apar t to destroy and d isin tegrate w hat w as created o r igina lly.

The very success of Ind ia 's inst i tu t io ns over th e years have created m assive forces th at arepul l ing and pushing at many points and are creat ing cracks and gaps among the var iousl inkages that ensure stable governance. The jud iciary, execut ive and th e legislature are al lim pacted b y t hese colossal forces even pr ivate en ter pr ise and t he civ i l society have beenbrought into the fo ld of cracking ethical values. These forces are exposing minor humanfra i l t ies to massive pressures and what would have become smal l depar tures f rom thenorm s have becom e norm s th em selves, he op ined. He st ressed on t he need for ind iv idua lsto go on an in t rospect ion m ode so t ha t t hey are ab le to decide on w ha t to choose f rom agalaxy o f opt ions ava ilab le , many o f w hich are wro ng. Th is w ould ensure t hat cor rup t ion isn ipped in the bud .

SESSION II I

ROLE OF M EDIA

M r B G Verghese, Em ine nt Jou rn alist

M r Varghese re fer red to m edia as a watchdog of th e soc iety as i t h as a predom inantro le as t r ustees o f in form at ion, to p or t ray to th e people , w hat is happening around us. Heopined t hat i t w as th e m ost p ow er fu l inst i t u t ion in th e nat ion. How ever, he also expressedth e need to dra f t a regu lat ion for m edia so t hat t he 'w atchdog ' does not becom e a ' lapdog ' ,w here in a cozy re lat ionsh ip is observed and th e m edia is governed by com m erce rath er t hanmission.

M r V ikram Chan dra, CEO, NDTV Con vergence

The job o f m edia is to sh ine a torch in t he corner w here cor rupt ion is happening,in form ed M r Chandra. He h igh l ighted th e proact ive ro le o f m edia in exposing 'b ig t icket 'cor rupt ion in Ind ia. He then w ent o n to d ist ingu ish co l lusive or 'b ig t icket ' cor rup t ion f romexto r t ion ary cor ru pt ion and op ined t hat t he m edia has hard ly p layed any ro le in curb ing th esecond. How ever, i t i s extor t ionary cor rupt ion t hat is m ore ins id ious and a f fect t he po orestof t he po or in India, he added. I t is on ly in the f i rst case th at t he m edia has been fo cusing t i l lnow, because of the urge to increase TRPs. He also opined that wi th the dramatict ransform at ion o f m edium s of in form at ion exchange, i t i s l i ke ly that in a few years f rom now,

15


18/52


19/52

w ho do uble up as ed i tors use a par t icu lar m edium for t he i r ow n vested in t erests therebyreducing qua li ty o f pro fessiona l m anagem ent o f m edia houses. Th is put s in tegr i ty o f m edia

to quest ions as whole - lo we r d o wn th e r u n g i t is the acceptance of var ious kinds ofpr iv i leges by correspond ent s. There is also req uirem ent of an edi t or ia l inter face t hat is ableto ed i t th e in form at ion received f rom th e source before it i s actu a lly emancipated t o t hereceiver, he add ed.

M r K T S Tulsi, Senio r A dvo cate, Sup rem e Cou rt

M r Tu lsi ident i f ied the m ost f undam enta l cause o f cor rup t ion in th e jud iciary asunending delay in del iver ing judgments. The delays have vi r tual ly cr ippled the judicia lpro cess and h ave enlarged jud icia l d iscret ion to such an extent th at peo ple are beginning to

lose fai th . He also o pined th at t he cr im inal just ice system seem s to have been p aralyzed.These delays have m ade corrup t io n a ' low r isk-high prof i t ' b usiness. There are m ore t hantw enty m i ll ion cases pending in th e cour t s, mo re than o ne and a ha l f mi l l ion under t r ia ls injail , m o re t h an f if t y six t ho u san d rape cases pen d in g in t he co u r t s an d t h e r at e o f co nvict io nin corr upt ion cases is c lose to a m ere 2%, he infor m ed. He also infor m ed t hat India ranked

t h45 out o f 49 countr ies in term s of ho nesty o f o f f icia ls by Wo r ld Econom ic Survey. Wor ldBank, on the o ther hand, has ranked Delh i Deve lopment Author i ty (DDA) as the mostcor rupt organ izat ion in Ind ia . He re itera ted t he need to dea l w i th cor rupt ion in a l l aspects o fl i fe including foo d, heal th, jud iciary, educat ion, pol ice etc. He added t hat t here is not hingw rong w i th t he law s but th ere is a huge prob lem in i ts enforcement in term s of de lays, wh ichhas aggravated t he pro b lem of cor rupt ion in Ind ia .

17


20/52

VALEDICTORY SESSIONM r P P Rao, Senio r A dvocate, Sup rem e Cou rt

M r Rao, in h is speech, point ed ou t t hat casteism , corru pt ion and po l i t ic izat ion h aveeroded in tegr i ty and e f f ic iency o f c iv i l s t ructure . Corrupt ion s tar ts wi th e lect ions andspreads l ike w i ld f i re thereaf ter engul f ing every aspect o f l i fe t hat com es in f ront o f i t , heop ined. He cal led for a rad ical amend m ent in th e system so t hat t he cor rupt do n ot engage inp lunder ing pub l ic proper t y and t urn i t in to p r ivate w ealth .

His recom m endat ions included:

? Adequate am endm ents in the law so t hat t he suspected c ivi l servants can be rem ovedfrom th e i r cha i rs.

? Tight enin g t he pro vision s gover nin g recru it m ent s in U PSC, PSC and SSC.

? M ake M insi tership and h igh publ ic off ices inaccessible except t o t he deserving andable person s w i th im peccable integr i ty.

? Faci li ta te appoin tm ent o f few exper t s f rom out side po l i t i cs / po l i t i cal par t ies and m ake

th em M em bers o f Par l iament f rom out side for handl ing cruc ial por t fo l ios.? Til l the above pro vision is created an d effected, m ake an Ordinance or No t i f icat ion fo r

appoin tm ent o f com petent exper t adv isers to M in isters, w hose advice wo uld befo l lowed except in cases w here the M in ister m ay re fer it t o t he Pr im e M in ister for h isapproval .

? Strengthen the Elect ion Commission by conferr ing addi t ional powers including thepo w er t o derecognize pol i t ical part ies and cancel th eir regist rat ion

? Consti tute search committees to assist the Supreme Court and High Courts in

select ion o f bef i t t ing candidates to b e judges.

? Introduce shi f t system in Courts wi th second shi f t exclusively deal ing wi th cr iminalcases against p ub lic servan t s- M Ps, M LAs, civi l servan t s, jud ges et c.

? Bui ld up publ ic opinion against corrupt ion and pressur ize law makers to the extentpossib le wi t h ab le suppo r t f rom unbiased m edia .

M r Har ish N Salve, Senior Advo cate, Sup rem e Cou rt

1 . M r Har ish N Sa lve, Se n io r A d vo cate , Su p r em e Co u r t r e fe r re d to t h e e co n o m ic gl o o mt hat is prevai ling over US, UK and t he Euro pean U nion w i th on ly Asia being th e si lver l in ing.

18


21/52

How ever, for India, even w i th t he advantage of a shining econom y, the year 2011 h as star t ed

w ith an im pen ding sense of d espo nden cy - a paradox und er th e given circum stances. Indiahas em erged as a robust econom ic ent i t y, but is yet t o em erge f rom th e quagmire o f b adgovernance and cor rupt ion in to w hich i t h as sunk and seem s to be sink ing deeper as th e dayspro gress. There are tw o faces of Ind ia- Corp orate India t hat is dar ing the rest of t he w or ldand a 'slum do g' Ind ia t hat reeks of greed, avar ice, corru pt ion and cr im inal i ty. We have thef inest inst i t u t ions in Ind ia w i th m axim um degree o f st r uctura l abrasions that has crept in . Wecan boast of a Par l iament that has been heal th i ly in p lace for the last 60 years yet i t isdysfunct ional in nature. As for instance, democracy fa i led miserably when threesupp lem ent ary grants are passed w i th ou t p ar l iam entar y scrut iny only over voice vot es, asth e par l iam ent w as paralyzed by t he op posit ion , he added.

2 . H e w e n t o n t o say t h at I nd ia has b eco m e a n at i o n of ' ge st u r es' , t h e f un d am e nt alprob lem s are not d ea lt w i th , on ly a few gestu ra l act ion s are taken to cover up a deeper ro t .The f i gh t we need to take up i s no t on ly to weed ou t co r rup t ion , bu t to dea l w i th theegregious corr upt ion as exists tod ay in India. Any nat ion consist s of a group of p eople w hoare honest to th e core, th ey w i ll be so un der any c ircum stances; there are a few w ho are justth e opp osi te i .e incor r igib ly d ishonest and w i l l rem ain so w hatsoever happens. But t he bu lkof Indian society consists of inte l l igent and hardworking people who, g iven a fa i r regime,would prefer to l ive honest ly. We have as of today fa i led to create such a society, he

lamented .3 . Ta ki n g th e i n sta n ce o f a l aw th a t wo u ld r e qu i re p eo p le t r avel li n g a b ro a d to d iscl o seth e i r bank deta ils, M r Sa lve po in ted out th at the pro b lem l ies w i th t he people w ho havesacks o f cash t ucked un der t he i r carpets and no t w i th som eone h aving a bank account . Thenation is happy to l ive in l ie, decei t and dishonesty and we have al l chose n t o b e co m ehypo cr i tes, he o pined . Taking an instance h e said t hat a l l pol i t ic ians f i le an aff idavi t stat ingth at t hey have spent less th an th i r ty t housand r upees for f igh t ing an e lect ion- a fund am enta ll ie to prove h im to be hon est ! One 's nat iona l ism is proved by w ear ing khadi dur ing the d ayeven i f h e sips im por ted scotch as evening fa l ls. We pub l icly cr i t ic ize corru pt m inisters at

pub l ic p lat for m s on ly to f ra tern i t ize w i th t hem at t he sl ightest oppo r t un i ty . Corru pt ion is sodeep roo ted in Ind ia tha t a comm on m an has to cl im b a m oun ta in in the t rue sense o f t heterm to get a sim ple form ali ty, l ike a mu tat ion, or a w ater connect ion, w hi le po l icy changes incorporate benef i t a re done in a mat ter o f minutes. We need to bu i ld a soc ie ty where acor rupt person w ould no t f ind a f r iend. Wh at is requ i red tod ay is to b r ing about a change inthe m indse t o f t he peop le.

4 . He ad d e d th at I n t er m s o f st r u c tu ra l ch a n ge s, we n e e d t r an sp ar e nt r e gu lat i o n s a s w e llas t ransparent regulators. There sho uld be t ransparency in appoint m ent in a l l inst i t ut ions,

19


22/52

howsoever big i t may be. There must be change in cr iminal just ice system which has

crum bled over t he years. A lso im por t ant is to rev ise em olum ents o f governm ent o f f ic ials soth at th ey are not com pel led to b e cor rup t . To conclude he show ed t rem endou s fa ith in t hecurrent generat ion, th e st uden ts and urged to m ake al l of t hese an electo ral issue- only t henw i l l t he change take place, he op ined.

Hon 'b le Justice Shr i P V Redd i, Chair m an, Law Com m ission of Ind ia

1 . Ju st i ce Re d dy in fo r m e d t h e au d ie nce t h at h e w as p r ese nt t h r ou gh o u t t h e ev en t t oco l lect necessary inputs f rom the panel is ts and the aud ience for under tak ing the muchneeded law re form s. Corru pt ion has becom e a stu m bl ing b lock in a t ta in ing the ob ject ive o f

w el fare sta te as env isaged by th e Const i tu t ion, he lam ented. He po in ted o ut th at desp i teexistence of v ig i lant press and cher ished freedom as guaranteed by the Const i tut ion,cor rupt ion is ramp ant in Ind ia . He too k re ference o f a quot e o f Benjam in Disrael i W hen m enare pure, law s are useless; w hen m en are cor rupt , law s are broken and re fer red t hat w e fa l lin th e second category. He op ined th at t hough cor rup t ion w as prevalent du r ing the anc ientdays, it s degree w as m uch less t han w hat i t is no w. The steady d eter io rat ion o f hu m an valuesin a l l wa lks o f l i fe has led to preva lence o f cor rupt ion. He then re fer red to a quote o fM ahatm a Gandhi , There is enough on ear th for everybody 's need, but no t for everybody 'sgreed , and added that the acts born out o f greed and se l f ishness are inhuman andunpardon able as th ey af fect fe l low hum an be ings w hom th e pub l ic servants are expected t o

serve. He also referred t o a quot e of M art in Lut her King, Jr, Our scient i f ic pow er has out runour sp i r i tua l pow er. We h ave gu ided m issi les and m isgu ided m en. and op ined t hat t h isstatem ent is of greater re levance in th e present day context . The fu sion o f values dear t ohuman l i fe into the development process is a necessary ingredient of progress in r ightdirect ion. The exi t ing new era of development and in technological advances has had i tse f fects on t he m indset , a t t i tu des and cu l tu ra l m oor ings o f t he peop le . Thou gh by and largetransform at ion o f econom y has contr ibut ed to prosper i ty and grow th o f t he nat ion, i t hasprom oted m ater ial ism and lure to m ake m oney by hoo k or crook, he added. Globa l iza t ionhas had i ts ind i rect but def in i te e f fect on t he soc io cu l tu ra l fabr ic o f t he nat ion, he op ined.

2 . Just i ce Redd i added tha t Cor rup t ion persi sts as a d readed d isease , i t has becom e al lpervasive. He expressed concern over siphoning of money from wel fare projects by apr iv i leged few midd lemen thereby depr iv ing the down t rodden mi l l ions. I t i s a mat ter o fgrave concern that corrupt ion prevai ls in our country even in secur ing rout ine services.Corr upt ion is d isto r t ing allocat io n of scarce publ ic resour ces. The w orst part is t hat p eop lehave become to lerant to cor rupt ion and got reconci led to the fact that cor rupt ion hasbecome a part of l i fe of the society. People are dis i l lusioned wi th the mission to tacklecor rupt ion. There is li t t le o r n o resistance to th e m alpract ices and m anipu lat ion s resor t ed t oby cor rupt pub l ic o f f icia ls. People do n ot come o ut openly to repor t cor rupt act iv i t ies, may be

20


23/52

fo r fear o f repr isa l or on account o f ind i f fe rence. He re fer red t o t he po pular quot e o f BessM yerson, The accom pl ice to t he cr im e of cor rupt ion is f requent ly our ow n ind i f fe rence andadded t hat i t is t he m ain reason for i t s prevalence in pu bl ic service. I t is m ore o f a socialprob lem em anating from a diseased society.

3 . To tack le co r r u p t io n n o t o n ly t h e Go ver n me n t b u t a lso th e pu b l ic, t h e NGO s i n cl u d in gth e professional associat ions and em inent personal i t ies m ust jo in hand s. There m ust be fearof law as w el l as respect o f law. How ever, st r ingency of law s or i t s m ere increase / m ul t ip l ici tyw i l l no t b e enou gh, he opined. The adm inistrat ive system s have to be so harnessed as toreduce the scope of cor rupt ion. We need to ident i fy cor rupt ion prone areas and the

breeding sources o f cor rupt ion, he added. Prevent ive act ion is more impor tant thanpuni t ive act ion, he sa id . M oreover w e need t o t h ink o f so lu t ions that are pract ical andpract icab le . The pro v isions o f t he Sta tu t e Law m ust be m ore fun ct iona l . He lam ented o n t hesnai l pace o f prosecut ion o f cor rupt ion cases and added t hat t here is m uch to be desired int he m anner o f cond uct in g prosecut ions. The tr ia ls a lso get delayed in spi t e of special court sbeing set up. The bottle-necks regarding delays in f i l ing charge sheets and case disposalshave to b e rem oved. The po l i t i cal w i l l to check the m enace of cor rupt ion coupled w i th t heact iv ism on t he par t o f t he pub l ic are the t w o key factors that cou ld br ing cor rup t ion u ndercontro l . S t rengthen ing ant i cor rupt ion machinery a long wi th adequate rev iew andm obi l izing the resources are the n eed of th e hou r.

4 . Ju st i ce Re d d i o p i ne d th at t h e An t i -co r r u p t i o n Bu r ea u m u st b e gi ve n e q u al imp o r ta n ceas t hat o f t he po l ice. The Ant i Corr upt ion Bureaus (ACBs) are of ten infested w i th ineff ic ientoff ic ia ls and are sub jected to pressure fro m po l i t ical part ies. Cou pled w i th t h is is th e prob lemof inadequate m anpow er. The ACBs m ust have funct iona l independence and should bedevo id o f po l i t i cal in f luence. The ACBs m ay be brought under cont ro l o f an independentbo dy consist ing of h igh ranking off ic ia ls, serving or ret i red, know n for t heir int egr i ty and alsoret i red judges of im peccable repu te. The ACBs need t o be d ecentral ized and lo cated in everyregion/ sta te w i th e f f icient t ra ined p ersonnel m anning them . A lso h e sta ted th at CBI is over -burdened w i th w ork and shor t age o f m an pow er and th ere is a need to op en an exc lusive

ant i -cor rup t ion st ra tegy w ing in th e CBI, he added. Accord ing to h im at t he centra l leve l, thegovernm ent shou ld give m ore im po rt ance to t he CVC, he observed. CVC sho uld also have i tsregional uni ts and should be equipped wi th personnel special ized in inte l l igence andinvest igat ion re la ted to cor rupt ion. CVC must have the ar rangement o f appoin t ing i tso f f ic ia ls ra ther than surv iv ing on ad hoc appoin tments or appoin tments on deputat ion.There is a lso a n eed t o d o an im pact assessm ent of th e CVC. He also stressed t he n eed t ocreate vi l lage and ta luk level committees selected by a cross sect ion of publ ic to f ightcorrup t io n. There is a need to bui ld p ubl ic opinion . Social consciousness w i l l act as anant idot e aga inst cor rupt ion. A co l loqu ium needs to be estab l ished w i th l ikem inded peo plew ho are ready t o f ight t h is m enace out of t he societ y, he said. He expressed his view s th atth ere is a need t o in t roduce a course on cor rupt ion as a sub ject o f stu dy in t he secondary

21


24/52

leve l l ike env i ronm ent , so t hat t he young generat ion is m ade aware o f t he ev i ls o f cor ru pt ionat an ear ly age. Fur t her, he sta ted t hat anot her im por t ant aspect is to cont ro l d iscret ion toth e extent possib le . Po l i t i ca l cor ru pt ion needs to be contro l led. The nexus betw een t hepol i t ical leaders and corru pt off ic ia ls lead to a chain o f i l legal act iv i t ies t hat affect s w el l beingof the state. The civ i l society at large is therefore affected wi th substandard del ivery ofserv ices f rom th e governm ent , he sa id .

5 . Ju st i ce Re d d i i n fo r m e d th at t h e Law Co m m issi o n h a s su b m i t t e d r ep o r t s se ek in greform s to th e exist ing law s f rom t im e to t im e on cor rupt ion issues. The Com m ission to okreference to t he Cent ral Vig ilance Com m ission Bi l l and also t w o consequent ia l am endin g

Bil ls concer nin g Delhi Special Police Estab l ishm ent Act and For eign Exchange Regulat ion Actand has suggested t hat t he CVC sho uld be a m ult i -mem ber bo dy. As regards im pro vem ent inin f rast ructure and methods o f invest igat ion, the Law Commiss ion re fer red to theor ganizatio nal set u p fo r investigatio n o f o ffen ces by SFO (Serio us Fraud Off ice) as existe nt int he U ni ted Kingdom . In sensit ive issues regarding invest igat ion of f iscal f raud, t he n eed t ohave a m ult i d iscip l inary invest igat ive team w as st ressed in Law Com m ission's repor t . TheCom m ission suggested provid ing CBI and Enfor cem ent Directorate a separate t ra ined po l iceforce. The Commiss ion emphasized the need for tak ing measures to complete t r ia ls

t hi nvo lv ing h igh leve l pub l ic m en w i th u t m ost exped i t i on . In the 166 Repor t the LawCom m ission h ad draft ed a Bil l ent i t led 'The Corr upt Pub l ic Servant s Forfe i t ure o f Propert y

Bil l ' and has recom m ended i ts implem entat ion. Th is is because the Comm ission t ook th eview that the provisions in the exist ing laws that are prevalent are inadequate sincefor fe i ture fo l lows convic t ion on ly . Another impor tant recommendat ion made by the Law

t hCom m ission in i ts 179 Repor t w as in respect o f 'W hist le B low er Law' . A dra f t B il l ent i t led'The Publ ic Interest Disclosure and Prot ect ion o f Infor m ers Bil l 2002' w as prep ared w hichwas meant for people to encourage disclosure of corrupt pract ices and frauds andprot ect ion f rom any type o f v ic t im izat ion. Fur t her i t has been recom m ended t hat Sect ion 5of th e 'Benam i Transact ions Proh ib i t ion Act 1988 ' w h ich a l low s for acqu isi t ion o f proper t yhe ld under f ic t i t ious names need to be implemented. He sta ted that recommendat ionsregard ing CVC have been par t ia lly acted upo n and som e of t he o t her recom m endat ionsseem to b e under t he act ive considerat ion o f t he governm ent , he op ined.

22


25/52

M r D R Kaart hikeyan (Padm a Shr i), President , FGG

M r Kaarth ikeyan dur in g the valedicto ry session, painted a pen p icture of a l l t hediscussions held dur ing th e course of t he day, w hich can be sum m ed up as fo l low s:

?W e are al l p roducts o f our system , and u nfor t unate ly m any feel com pel led t o indu lgein co r rup t ion , how m uch ever hard w e t r y to be honest . How do w e overcom e th i schallenge?

?Integr i t y is not restr icted to pub l ic l i fe alone. I t needs to be up held in pr ivate bu sinessenterpr ises as w el l, and m ore im por t ant ly in our personal l ife . Only w hen w e havepersonal integr i ty, i t can get ref lected in our professional spheres. Just as char i ty

beg ins at hom e, in tegr i ty t oo needs to b egin a t h om e. Th is has been re i tera ted bym ost speakers.

?Our ex ist ing laws have not been ab le to stem cor rupt ion and encourage in tegr i ty. And,th e Law Com m issions can on ly recom m end and eventua l ly i t i s th e responsib il i ty o fthe governm ent to take i t fo rw ard .

?There is a crying need t o b olster capaci ty of th e invest igat ive agencies and f ree t hemfrom po l i t i cal cont ro l . Th is requ i res an urgent re form ing and u pdat ing o f out datedlaws to faci l itate b ett er po l icing. The agencies also requ ire adequate augm entat ion o f

hum an resou rces, part icular ly ski l led invest igators in m iddle and lo w er ranks to helpadd ress t he h uge backlog of cases.

?There is sever i ty o f law s bu t t here is no cert a inty of pun ishm ent . This only encou ragescorrupt ion. A lso, there is a need t o address th e people w ho have the capacity t ocorrupt. There is a lso an urgent need to develop a posi t ive vig i lance cul ture. Thecorrupt shou ld n ot fee l that t hey can get aw ay w i th anyth ing.

?To w eed out cor rup t ion , tw o e lement s are im por t ant one, account ab i li ty, and tw o,increased t ransparency. The biggest en em y for t he state is not external t hreat, rath er

cor rupt ion w hich is in terna l and cor rosive. Is th ere a l ink bet w een cor rupt ion andinf lat ion? Technology is one way to address corrupt ion as i t a ims to increasetran sparency and stal l ad h oc and arb i trary b ureaucrat ic behaviour.

?There is a lso a need to make the vig i lance oversight bodies independent. At th ism om ent , v ig i lance bodies like CVOs are located w i th in t he or ganisat io nal st ruct ure ofeach of the government agency. This hampers a transparent invest igat ion ofal legat io ns raised against t he o ff ic ia ls in th e agency. There is t herefor e an u rgent needfor an independent , but s ingle body to oversee cor rup t ion.

23


26/52

?

balances. Just as an organisat ion cann ot sustain i f i t is not loop ed t ogeth er, the nat io ncannot progress i f i t i s not looped together wi th inst ruments that s tem cor ruptpract ices and encourages integr i t y, accoun tabi l i t y and transparency.

?There is a huge gap bet w een actual levels of corr upt ion and p eop le 's percept ion ofcor rupt ion. Th is gap has been created and cam e about due t o t he ro le m edia hasplayed in highl ight ing corrupt pract ices. As the number of media houses hasincreased, peop le 's percept ion o n corru pt ion h as increased correspond ingly.

?The b iggest cha llenge t hat th e m edia is facing is th e cor rupt ion f ro m w i th in . Th is

hardly gets focused since no o ne is aw are of i t , no m easure has com e about to addressi t . Pro fessiona l m anagem ent o f m edia has com e dow n. Com binat ion o f b usiness andpol i t i cal in terests dom inate cor rupt ion in m edia. M ost in the m edia houses havelearnt to l ive w i th t he pr iv i leges and assum e th at th ey are ent i t led t o i t .

?Ind ia has the inst i tu t iona l f ramework. The prob lem is how to make use o f th isf r a me wo r k .

?Some of the laws o f Ind ia are o ld and archa ic urgent need to make themcon tem pora ry and upda ted , and t o de le te som e o f t hem .

?Need fo r a credible Lokp al b i l l

?RTI shou ld becom e a fun dam ent al r ight

?Prom ulgate a law t o regulate fu nct io ning of p ol i t ical part ies and giving pow ers to CECto derecognize / deregister pol i t ical part ies.

?Reclassi fy cr im es so t hat m inor offen ces could be ad dressed t hro ugh p lea bargaining

?Execut e w holesale electo ral reform s

?Execute independent appo in tm ent o f judges

Ind ia requ i res a stab le governm ent w hich is he ld t ogether w i th adequate checks and

24


27/52

M r Ar un Kum ar Jagatram ka, Con ference Co-Chairm an, Glob al Steel & CM D, Gujarat NRE

Coke Ltd1 . M r Ja gat r am ka fel t t h at t h e c la ri o n ca ll fo r t h e se co n d st r u g gle f o r In d e p en d e n ce f rom dece it and cor rupt ion, f rom m ist r ust and u neth ica l pract ice has been sound ed dur ingth e conference.

2 . Re fe rr in g t o a m e t ap h o r of t h e n ucl ear p o w e r t h at d e f in e s t h e p o t en t ial of an at o m , h einv ited a ll to invo lve t hem selves in an in ten se debate as to how to sa lvage t he nat ion f ro mth is m alice and t ake up any ro le in th e f ight aga inst cor rupt ion. People o f t en ask w hat cou ldbe a pot ent ia l show stop per for Ind ia and t he m ost obv ious answ er is cor rupt ion. Ind ia cou ld

face a M alth us ian n ightm are instead o f reap ing i ts demo graphic d iv idend. Deep roo tedcor rupt ion and to t a l apathy o f com m on m en in the system prevents an inclusive grow th andis creat in g a bigger d iv ide bet w een t he haves and t he have not s, he added .

3 . Th e la st 6 0 yea rs o f co r r u p t i o n in I n di a h as cr eate d a si t u at i o n as i f al l o f u s a re co r r u p tand w e should f ight second f reedom str uggle to com e out o f t h is quagmire . It 's h igh t im e th atw e stop grave-d igging and star t a new chapter by em pow er ing Ind ian c it izen t o h o ld h is headhigh in pr ide and t ru st and be t rusted by t he enforcement agencies w hich is a t th e core o f o ursubju gated civ il society, added M r Jagatram ka.

The proceedings of t he Natio nal Confer ence on Integr i ty, w hich w as atten ded by n ear ly 350el ite m em bers o f t he soc iety w ere wide ly covered in the M edia , w i th t he Econom ic Tim escarryin g three fu l l page repor t s.

25


28/52

26


29/52

27


30/52

Nat io nal Sem inar on Black M on ey

Backgroun d Not e

Corru pt ion in Ind ia is al l pervasive. It has grow n t o acute p ropor t ions and h ur t s every one o f

us in d i f fe rent degrees and d im ensions. Black M oney is one aspect o f cor rup t ion w hich tod ay

has ba l looned to eno rm ous propor t ions. Wi t hout go ing to conf l ic t ing lo f ty f igures o f t o t a l

b lack mo ney in op erat ion in India, on e th ing is c lear, that i t is eno ugh t o t ake care of Ind ia 's

bur geoning extern al debt pro blem s or eradicate pover t y and i l l i teracy. Black m oney refers toincom e earned surrept i t io usly or i l legal ly, usual ly in cash, and not repo rt ed to governm ent so

as to avoid paying taxes on i t , and the amount ci rculat ing in an underground or paral le l

econom y unm oni to red by th e auth or i t ies. Black m oney is a ta le o f bonanza for a very se lect

few and a bane of the vast m ajor i ty o f th e popula t ion.

There have been var ious effor ts by successive governments for more than 60 years to try

tackl ing t he issue of b lack m on ey. But hardly have w e tr ied addressing the ro ot cause of t he

prob lem . We have not t r ied to s top generat ion o f b lack m oney. We have been t ry ing to get

back t he b lack m oney on ce it i s generated. If w e do not stop i ts generat ion , the p rob lemwould never cease. We need to address the issue from the source. We have been just

m opp ing th e f loor keeping the tap op en. The i rony o f th e si tuat ion is th at th e d i l igent incom e

tax payer is being harassed un der t he no t ion t hat h e is paying less, wh i le there is a hand ful

th at do es no t d isclose th eir incom e at a l l by no t f i l ing tax retu rns and h ence evade crores in

tax and a t th e sam e t im e is never be ing hounded by t he tax author i t ies. We need t o change

this scenar io. Honest tax payers should be rewarded and those who do not d isclose their

incom e at a l l shou ld be severely pun ished. W e need t o encou rage individu als to disclose th eir

incom e and pay taxes in Ind ia. If w e keep t hem as cu lpr i t , they w ould cont inue to rem ain so.We lack se l f compl iance in our country . We need to incu lcate and promote a cu l ture o f

volunt ary disclosure as against p oo r ly im plem ent ed and u nnecessar i ly com pl icated tax law s

prevai l ing to day.

I t is wi th th is background, Foundation for Peace, Harmony and Good Governance is

organizing a one day sem inar on Black M oney. The idea of t he conferen ce is to analyze

th readbare in to w hat a l l const i t u tes b lack mon ey and t he m eans to com bat t h is ever grow ing

m enace. The sem inar a im s to exp lore how b lack m oney is generated; its threat t o t he soc iety

and to t ry f ind ing out ways and means how government and c iv i l soc ie ty can work in

28


31/52

par tn ersh ip in t ack l ing th is m ephisto . The t hem e is not to get invo lved in any b lame game,

but to create a p la t form for governm ent , c ivi l soc iety and jud ic iary to t r y evo lv ing probableso lu t ion and/ or t o st rengthen th e present endeavours through f rank exchange of v iew s.

The big quest ion is wh at is Black M on ey and ho w is i t generated? Black m oney as against th e

com m on concept is not on ly t he m ind boggl ing sum s of m oney parked in tax heavens. To

understand b lack m oney and to rea lly stop th is m enace, w e need to look in t o w hy and how i t

gets generated. Non-compl iable provisions in most revenue legislat ions lead to al l being

defaul ters -d i f fer ing only in scale - wi th the resul t that b ig evaders can afford to buy the

system out w hi le genuine ones in d i f f i cu l ty are unable to m atch the payout o f t ax evaders to

keep the off ic ia ls happy - th is leads to even the genuine ones turning into evaders in thelonger term . Our system is fu l l o f Sta tu t ory law s that are not com pl iab le by a m ajor i ty. Th is

m akes al l in th e system as evaders, and n o on e is super hum an to claim to be fu l ly honest.

W hat w e see to day is only re lat ive hon esty. W e m ust re look t he var ious stat ut es in existen ce

and rest ructure them to make them compl iab le by major i ty , i f not a l l . Laws that are not

com p l ied w i th im pun i ty o r tha t a re no t com p l iab le by m a jo r i t y a re de funct l aw s requ ir ing

restructur ing or delet ion. For example, in case of stamp duty & capi ta l gains tax on

immovable proper t ies there is a fe l t need for ra t iona l iza t ion to reduce b lack money

content . Un t i l and un less we ident i fy such fa llac ies and m ake t hem comp l iab le , the presentsystem w here th e b ig f ish gets aw ay by payout s w ould go on th r iv ing and t he generat ion o f

b lack m oney can never be stop ped.

The con ference is d iv ided int o 3 b road sessions:

Com bat ing the m enace stop i ts generat io n. . .. we canno t keep on m opp ing the f loor w i th

tap op en..

? W hat is b lack m oney?? How is i t be ing generated?

? W hat are t he legal and system ic fal lacies th at are helping generat ion an d ci rculat io n o f

b lack m oney?

? Ident i fy ing the law s th at are not com pl ied by m ajor i ty and th e need to ra t iona l ize

th e m

? Encou raging self com pliance

? Is th e m eth od and m anner o f pr evail ing system of ra ids discouraging disclosures and

com pl iance, and encouraging cor rupt ion?

? The chal lenge today is encouraging disclosure, s ince wi thout d isclosure, actual

Sessio n 1

29


32/52

incom e can never be ascerta ined and t ot al tax evaded Taxmen can act w i th t hose

w ho d isc lose, but w hat about th ose w ho do no t d isclose and rem ain out o f t he tax net

Black M on ey and Black Econ om y - I t needs to be not ed th at B lack econo m y not on ly re fers to

black m on ey. It h as a w ider conno tat ion. The session w ou ld focus on:

? Role o f b lack m oney in b lack econom y

? Econom ic re form s and th e grow th in b lack m oney and b lack econom y

? Black Econom y as a threat t o secur i t y of t he count ry

?Electo ra l reform s as a measure t o com bat b lack econo m y and b lack m oney

? Causes of existen ce of b lack econo m y l ike degree of cont rols and regulat ions, nexus

bet w een corr upt po l i t ic ians, execut ive and businessm en

Unravel ing Black M on ey The session w ould p r im ar i ly focus on t he fo l low ing po in ts :

? Ident i fy ing the t ax havens. W hat are t he new and convent iona l safe havens on ear th?

? Signing of t ax inform ation exchange agreem ent s but are they enou gh?

? Once the o ld / ex ist ing t ax f ree regim es or count r ies becom e d i f f icu lt to operate in , new

countr ies / regim es w ould em erge should w e just go on sign ing agreem ents?

? W hat have w e ach ieved f ro m th e var ious agreem ents signed t i l l da te and t he nam es of

t he p ersons respo nsible fo r stashing black m on ey received so far?

? How to s top generat ion o f b lack m oney w hi le t ry ing to get t he ident i f ied b lack m oney

back from safe/ tax heavens?

? Is i t real ly possible to get t he m oney back from foreign banks?

? Need to exp lore som e out o f t he box so lu t ion since l i t t le resu l t ach ieved f rom th e

m ethodo logy adop ted t i l l date

Devising an eff ic ient and act io nable st rategy to stop generat ion of b lack m on ey and to get

th e h idden b lack m oney on record a im ing at p ub l ic w el fare . Th is session w ould pr im ar i ly

focus on

a) Co n cr et e su gge st i o ns t o st o p ge n er at i o n o f Black M o n ey

b ) Co n cr ete su gge st i o n s to b r i n g b a ck th e b l ack mo n e y su sp e cte d to b e sta sh e d in

foreign banks

Sessio n 2

Sessio n 3

VALEDICTORY SESSION

30


33/52

c) Co n cr ete su gge st i o n s to b r i n g b a ck id e n t if i ed b l ack mo n e y sta sh e d in f o r ei gn

ban ks, andd ) Co n cr ete su gge st i o n s to u n e ar th t h e B la ck M o n e y avai la b le w i th i n In d i an Te r r it o r y

e ) Co n cr ete su gge st i o n s to d e v ise a r o ad m a p fo r u t i li zat i o n o f Bl ack M o n e y.

The sem inar w ould d ebate and de l iberate o n var ious means to f ree Ind ia f rom c lu tches o f

b lack money dem on and t o c lam p dow n on the h idden economy genera ted by b lack money.

Em inent speakers and de legates w ould b ra instor m on how generat ion o f b lack m oney can

be sto pped. The sem inar wo uld t r y to evo lve recom m endat ions on w hat can be exp lored as

a lternat ives to th e m easures al ready be ing pursued t o bu i ld a soc iety o n fou ndat ion o f t rust .

The seminar would be addressed by key government off ic ia ls, former bureaucrats,corporates and em inent p ersonal i t ies f rom th e jud ic iary and m edia .

W hat t he Governm ent needs to d o.

For lon g we have been patt ing our backs on stor ies of India r ising and d ou ble dig i t grow t h. It

is tr ue t hat GDP has been grow ing steadi ly and has reached 8.5% grow t h, prob ably one of

th e h ighest in th e wo r ld . But a sl ight in t rospect ion w ould reveal that th e m om entum seem s

to be losing i ts steam . Var ious corr upt ion issues opening up l ike a can of w orm s are not only

severe ly dent ing investors ' conf idence; i t has al l the am m o t o d erai l the m uch to uted Ind ian

grow th stor y. Accord ing to a recent ar t ic le in a leading dai ly qu ot ing a st udy by Colum bia

Universi ty, Indian companies invested more than $75 bi l l ion overseas between 2000 and2010. Accord ing to t he latest RBI repo rt , FDI in India decl ined by 3 6% betw een Apr i l and

September 2010 compared to the same per iod in 2009. This decl ine coincides wi th FDI

grow th o f 17% in non-Arab Asia. Deep rooted cor rup t ion and t o ta l apathy o f com m on m an in

th e system prevent s an inclusive grow t h and is creat in g a bigger d iv ide bet w een t he haves

and t he have not s; th is m ight resu l t in t o Ind ia facing a M alth usian n ightm are instead o f

reaping i ts dem ographic div idend .

Ann exure I

31


34/52

Governm ent should th erefore a im at ach iev ing the fo l low ing broad goa ls:

? A com plete o verhaul of tax system w i th a bold m essage to encourage sel f comp l iance

Governm ent should in t rod uce som e bo ld m easures to convey i t 's w i l lingness to com e c lean

on m at ters o f cor rup t ion and b lack m oney. There should be somet h ing path b reaking sim i lar

to th at o f 1985-86. We need an ou t o f t he box approach to ach ieve th is. " The m ore laws are

enacted and taxes assessed, t he greater t he n um ber o f law breakers and t ax evaders." - Lao

Tzu.

The tax rates sho uld b e low ered signi f icant ly. Last t im e w hen w e rat ion al ized t ax system in

1985-86, a ll fears o f loss o f governm ent revenue w ere put to rest w hen actua l tax co l lect ionw as m uch h igher by low er ing tax ra tes. We n eed a rad ica l approach w hich d ism ant les th e

cur rent ra te prov is ion. Government should encourage vo luntary compl iance wi thout

slavishly relying on raids and inspections by authorit ies. Prevail ing system of assessment,

inspect ion and raids are t he key reasons for lack of com pl iance. In th e present system , the

com m on tax payers are under an im pression th at no m at ter how m et icu lous th ey are , th e

author i t ies can f ind a way and t roub le them; hence they resor t to cash t ransact ions.

Therefore , i t i s im por t ant for th e governm ent t o consider in t rodu cing schem es of vo lunt ary

d isc losure t o inst i ll t r ust o f com m on m an in t he system . Th is w i l l u l t im ate ly resu l t in greatercom pl iance. . Our previo us exper ience suggests th at a low er t ax system accom panied b y sel f

com pl iance w i l l resul t in greater revenue col lect ion , given an im proved e-governan ce. Even

t he develop ed coun tr ies of w or ld l ike, USA, UK, Canada and Austral ia do n ot have the kin d of

system th at w e have in Ind ia , but th ey have m uch bet t er com pl iance. In terest ing ly Ind ia is

one o f t he h ighest b lack m oney depo si tors in fore ign banks. It i s h igh t im e w e change th e

exist in g system w hich is ineffect ive and less pro duct ive and govern m ent sho uld anno un ce

some forward look ing measures in th is regard. A lso Government should empower and

encourage pub l ic part ic ipat ion in t he cleansing process.? Discourage Extor t ionary Corru pt ion Need to ident i fy ex tor t ionary cor ru pt ion and t o

deal w i th i t separate ly f rom col lusive cor ru pt ion

Our system prov ides over r id ing power to enforcement agencies which g ive r ise to

exto r t ion ary cor ru pt ion. Po l icy cor rect ion can curb extor t ion ary cor ru pt ion. M oreover, i t i s

extor t ionary cor rupt ion which a f fects the common man, the honest man. DTC i f

im plem ented par t ia l ly or fu l ly th is year should address th e adm in ist ra t ive f laws w hich have

been o ver looked in t he revised version . The t ax code f or exam ple pro vides an al l pervasive

32


35/52

pow er to assessing o f f icers to na i l any one w i th im puni t y w i th n o pract ica l opt ion fo r appeal .

The t ax laws should prov ide a t least th e m in im um d ign ity to tax payers.

W e need t ax law s:

W h ich do no t ab et co rr up t io n an d are n ot self defeat in g

W h ich w o u l d no t i nv it e m o r e & m o r e av oi dab le vi gil an ce an d su sp ici on in t ax sy st e m

W h ich w ou ld no t h arasses h on est t ax p ayers

W h ich w i ll di sco u rage evasio n an d gr easi ng p alm s o f t ax o f f icials

Plugging th e leakages w here ever po ssible

Presently the implementat ion mechanism seems to have total ly col lapsed. Social sector

spending is o f course th e need of th e day, but i f th e in tended b enef i t do es not reach po or and

deserv ing lo t then such schemes become use less and counter product ive . Aam Admi

schemes l ike NREGA, food secur i ty or r ight to educat ion would not get fu l f i l led i f

im plem entat ion o f such schemes is not proper. Governm ent has been a l locat ing huge funds

for such schem es, but th ey w ould be o f no use i f th e ex ist ing opaci ty in im plem entat ion is notrem oved. Hence, w hi le devising such schem es and al locat in g fund s, extrem e care sho uld b e

taken to see to i t t hat leakages are p lugged and b enef i t reaches to t hose for w hom th ese

schem es are m eant fo r.

The th ru st shou ld be on imp lem entat ion and no t m erely on announcem ent o f schem es.

Skimm ing funds f rom th e pub l ic purse at every leve l and a t every crossing w i th in t he cha in o f

command resu l ts in on ly a f ract ion o f government out lay reach ing to the in tended

benef ic iar ies. System ic corru pt ion only gr ind s th e eff ic iency of governance to a hal t .

Corrupt ion hi ts poor the hardest; i t has cr ippled governance thereby creat ing a feel ing ofdepr ivat io n am on gst m asses, and is creat in g m istr ust on Governm ent s' goo d inten t ions in

im prov ing l ive lihood o f m asses. It i s cor rupt ion t hat saps out t he st rength o f t he nat ion and

m akes i t vuln erable to div is ive forces, bot h int ernal and extern al .

33


36/52

Ann exure I I

The situ at ion is not going to change unless w e change th e system of col lect ion o f t ax and

assessment of tax l iabi l i ty. We need a complete change in mental i ty. When raids are

conducted, the tax men instead of doing their job honest ly general ly seen as harassing

peop le by using, over using and m isusing pow ers vested in t hem and t h is leads to giv ing and

tak ing br ibe, w hich at t im es is m ore t han t he actu a l tax l iab i l ity o f t he ind iv idua l. W hen

som eone can get aw ay by paying less, then w hy should h e ho nest ly pay his taxes? Keep t he

taxmen amu sed, so w hat i f t hey harass you w hen t hey com e, it i s th e cost you pay for a t r ip

to t he Sw iss banks - b lack m oney ci rculat ion star t s and t he vic ious ci rc le ends now here.Indians severely lack sel f compl iance. Government cannot pol ice anywhere and

everyw here, anyone and everyon e; i f i t star t s do ing that i t w i l l have to give excessive pow er

in t he hands o f t he agencies and o f f ic ia ls w hich have t he po tent ial to m ake even t he ho nest

in to cor rupt . The on ly w ay out , is to create , an a tm osphere conducive o f com pl iance; an

aura of t rust by encouraging voluntar y disclosures.

There has been a pu bl ic out rage against cor rup t ion. But m edia is busy focusing corr upt ion

at h igh p laces. It seem s less exci t ing to b reak sto r ies abou t cor rup t io n am ong pet t y off ic ia ls

and inspecto rs th an sto r ies about te lecom g iants and spor t s mo narchs. It i s go ing to m at terless to an ord inary ci t izen i f any of t he t e lecom giant s are f ined, or a schem ing m inister is

jai led , o r fo rm at io n o r exi st en ce o f JPC o r n o JPC. It p in ch es h im w hen h e is fo rce d t o b r ib e

governm ent o f f icer to get a b i r t h or d eath cer t i f i ca te . I t f rust ra tes h im w hen he has to pay

out o f p ocket t o get h is leg it im ate c iv ic amen i t ies or t o get h is land or p roper t y reg istered

w hich he has bou ght t hrough hard earned m oney. A system ic overhaul can on ly uproo t t h is

grass root cor rupt ion w hich af fects the 'aam adm i ' .

34


37/52

Them e Present at ion

35


38/52

36


39/52

37


40/52

38


41/52

39


42/52

40


43/52

41


44/52

42


45/52

43


46/52

44


47/52

45


48/52

Hon' ble Just iceShr i P V Redd i

Shr i Justice P.V. Reddi pract ised as an advo cate in

var ious branches of law for 27 years, in And hraPradesh High Court. He became Judge of A.P.High Court in M arch 1990 and w as pres ident o fA.P. Jud icial Academ y d ur ing his t enu re as Jud ge.

He became the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court inOctober 2000 and was elevated to Suprem e Cour t of India inAugust 20 01. Af ter ret i rem ent, he served as Chai rman of t heAdvance Ruling Authori ty (Income Tax, Customs, etc.). Soonafter com pletin g his ten ure as Chairm an, AAR, he assum edoff ice as Chai rman of the Law Commiss ion of India in Apr i l2010.

The most imp ortant judgm ent w hich Just ice Reddi renderedas a Jud ge of t he Suprem e Cou rt w as in PUCL case, w herein i twas he ld tha t th e fundam enta l r i gh t t o f reedom o f expressionves ted in a vo te r en t i t l ed h im the r igh t to know about theassets and l iabi l i t ies and cr iminal antecedents of thecandidate cont est ing for e lect ion.

Hon' ble Just ice Shri N Santosh Hegde

J u s t i c e S a n t o s h H e g d e , c u r r e n t l y t h eHonourab le Lokayuk ta ( the an t i -cor rup t ionombudsman of the s tate of Karnataka), is al e a d i n g l e g a l l u m i n a ry . G ra d u a t i n g f r o mUniversity Law College, Bangalore, he joined

the Bar in 1966. Having pract iced law at boththe High Court of Karnataka and th e Suprem e Court of India,he has over 30 years of l i t igat ion exper ience to h is credi t . Hehas also he ld high o ff ices, as Advo cate General of Karnat aka,Addi t ional Sol ic itor General to t he Governm ent of Ind ia andSol ic i tor General to t he Governm ent of India.

Just ice Hegde was appointed Judge of the Suprem e Cour t o fIndia in 1999, f rom w hich pos i t ion he ret i red in June 2005. Heholds the rare d is t inct ion of being one among only fourpersons in the h is tory of the Supreme Court of India to beelevated as a Judge directly from the bar. Justice Hegde haswhi ls t pres id ing as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India

del ivered several landmark judgm ents. He has also fu nct ionedas the Chai rperson of the Telecom Disputes Set t lementAp p e l l a t e T r i b u n a l f r o m J u n e 2 0 0 5 t o Au g u s t 2 0 0 6 .Just ice Hegde has played a p ivota l ro le in weeding outcorrupt ion in soc iety . Under h is leadership the Lokayukta hasc leared o ver 12,000 comp laints f i led by c i t izens against publ icservants for of fences of corru pt ion and m aladminis t rat ion. Hehas dis t inguished himsel f as one of the most ef f ic

theme paper - seminar on black money

Documents