Bill for tightening laws against bribery passed in Rajya Sabha
THE MEMBERS ALSO STRESSED THAT THE CURRENT PERIOD OF ONE WEEK GIVEN TO A ‘COERCED BRIBER’ TO REPORT THE MATTER IS NOT ADEQUATE
NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013, that has stringent provisions for punishment to those giving bribes — both individuals and organizations — and those taking them.
The Bill, that amends the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, prescribes imprisonment of a minimum of three years, extendable up to seven years for bribing. During discussion, members held that a distinction must be made between “coercive” (that in which one is forced to bribe by those in authority) and “collusive” (that in which one willingly bribes to extract favours) bribing.
The members also stressed that the current period of one week given to a ‘coerced briber’ to report the matter is not adequate. Minister of state for personnel and public grievances Jitendra Singh, while replying to the debate, said the time period given to the ‘coerced briber’ may be increased to two weeks or more. During the debate, the Opposition accused the Centre of adopting double standards on corruption.
Deputy leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma sought to know why the Modi government had not yet appointed a Lokpal. He said that in the past four years, corruption had been encouraged while the economy suffered.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shwait Malik, however hit back claiming that unprecedented efforts were being made for curbing corruption and ensuring development which the opposition was unwilling to see.
Sharma countered by saying the situation now was such that “people don’t feel their money is safe even in banks.” The promise of depositing ₹15 lakh into bank accounts, through the recovery of black money stashed abroad, has now turned into a “jumla” (rhetoric), Sharma said.
Malik said as much as ₹70,000 crore was back into the system due to the government’s efforts.
AIDMK MP A Navaneethakrishnan said his party welcomed the Bill, but said it was lenient towards organisations.
“Only fine could be imposed on commercial organisations. They cannot be sent to jail, but their senior officials are punished,” he said, adding that the amendment needed changes.
Sukhendu Sekhar Ray of TMC said the amendment provided that the bribe-taker would be punished with jail time of up to seven years while bribe-givers would get only three years, despite both being “equal partners in crime”.