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| Happy New Year - 2006 |
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http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=011136
Fighting without Weapons
Public Men Needn't Fear Lok Ayukta
THE state government's plan to introduce the Lok Ayukta bill in the
next assembly session could be seen as its second attempt towards
controlling corruption in public life. It was first in 1997 that the
state government, interestingly headed then too by Mr Pratapsing Rane,
had set up a commission under the Goa Public Men's Corruption
(Investigations and Inquiries) Act to probe charges of corruption
against public men, including ministers and MLAs. The Act was passed
in 1988, but kept in abeyance for nine years. Even before the
commission could investigate any case and leave its imprint, it was
wound up. Interestingly it received only two cases within the first
six months of its functioning, and in one case the complaint was found
to be false. Even the chairman of the commission was forced to
observe: "The first case was a disaster. I feel sorry that the
commission could not respond positively to the first case." The public
has a right to know why cases did not come to the commission.
Now that we are going to have a Lok Ayukta who will hear complaints of
corruption against public men as well as civil servants, we have to
stop and ask whether we are just doing something cosmetic or we really
want to make a sincere effort to check corruption. In the first place,
in order for the Lok Ayukta to succeed, the public perception about
the efficacy of his office has to be positive. About the earlier
commission the public perception was not positive. And this was
primarily so because the commission was seen as a toothless body, not
having powers to punish the corrupt in an exemplary manner. People did
not come forward to register their complaints. Yet another
discouraging factor was the
recommendatory nature of the end result of all endeavour at the
commission: if the
commission found a person guilty of corruption charges, it could not
sentence him under the
laws, but had to refer the case to the government for prosecution. And
it was left to the
government to do whatever it liked with the recommendation.
Much like the earlier commission, the Goa Lok Ayukta bill has its
inherent weaknesses. To
begin with, the police department has been kept out of the purview of
the Lok Ayukta. Does
it imply that police are incorruptible! So has the education
department been—on the funny,
clumsy ground that this department is governed by the Goa School
Education Act, 1984. How
does the Lok Ayukta get to investigate the corruption of, say director
of education or any
other official of the education department who can only be prosecuted under the
abovementioned Act ( or Prevention of Corruption Act.) While the
coming into being of the
office of Lok Ayukta will be welcome, the state government has to take
a second look at the
legislation and introduce adequate provisions for making it effective
in reducing the level
of corruption among the ministers, MLAs, PSU chairmen and civil
servants. Perhaps, like
Uttaranchal, Goa can also grant quasi-judicial rights to the Lok Ayukta.
--
Cheers,
Gabe Menezes.
London, England
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