The Prime Minister’s assertion that his government is considering changes in the law to make private sector bribery a criminal offence is very welcome. It is a path-breaking move on his part and will be welcomed in business circles as long overdue. There is hardly a major tender, whether for roads, highways or mining, that is not fixed to prefer certain parties and all concerned have gone scot-free. The Prime Minister mentioning a long list, including planned amendments to laws regarding anti-graft measures to meet the requirements of the UN Convention Against Corruption, which Indian has ratified, therefore, comes as a breath of fresh air.
Another very important issue he raised at the 18th Biennial Conference of the CBI and State Police Bureaux was the ways and means to minimise the discretionary powers of public authorities and the larger issue of a public procurement law. The need for a stringent law for the last two cannot be emphasised strongly enough as it is these discretionary powers that nurture corruption. This was recognised nearly two decades ago by one of the earlier crusaders against corruption, V.P. Singh. He had campaigned relentlessly for this as he recognised that the discretionary power given to bureaucrats and ministers through badly framed, complex laws were the source of major corruption. But there was no progress on this. The public procurement law, too, should be brought forthwith without much delay as the leakage of crores of rupees while awarding tenders amounts to criminal misuse of the nation’s scarce funds and adds to the burgeoning deficit.
The Prime Minister’s stand on making private sector bribery a criminal offence will give a major boost to the Central Vigilance Commissioner’s plea that corruption in the corporate sector must be brought within the ambit of the Lokpal Bill. It was also opportune coming on the heels of the controversial statement made by law minister Salman Khurshid, who questioned the wisdom of the Supreme Court and its understanding of the “political economy” whilst dealing with scams involving jailed private sector scamsters. “If you lock top businessmen, will investment come,” he had asked. Mr Khurshid later sought to douse the controversy by emphasising that it was the Supreme Court that laid down the dictum “bail, not jail” and gave the instance of Binayak Sen, who was released on bail by the Supreme Court.
One can only hope that along with the laws, the non-implementation of these laws within a specific time frame is also made a crime. There has to be accountability for those responsible for seeing that criminals, however rich and powerful, are punished if they break the law.