Expressing profound concern over the lack of foolproof system to detect the misdeeds of corrupt elements in the bureaucracy, the draft report of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), headed by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, has expressed anguish that the accountability procedures in the government continued to be “defused and weak,” making it difficult to fix individual responsibility.
Taking cognisance of the recent happenings in the Department of Telecom (DoT), the report said that administrative powers of postings and transfers were used as a powerful leverage to reward pliant officers and to punish or marginalise officers of unimpeachable integrity who refuse to be privy to wrongdoing or decline to render palatable advice.
“It is all the more unfortunate that India, the largest democracy of the world, is viewed so poorly in terms of global corruption perception index,'' it said. The draft report recommended that the system of concurrent internal audit needs to be strengthened and accorded full autonomy with a duty cast on each Financial Adviser to report all financial irregularities to the Finance Ministry as well as to the statutory audit.
“Further, each Department/Ministry must have Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) with well defined mandate to maintain unremitting vigil on the internal functioning of the Department. It also needs to be ensured that the CVOs are selected in consultation with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) after following fair and transparent procedure to avoid any bias or allegation of favouritism,”' it said.
Stressing that the anti-corruption laws must be stringent enough to create the trepidation of law and deter the public servants from wrongdoing, the rejected draft report felt that such legal provisions should also provide for speedy trial and guarantee that justice was not denied or delayed.
The draft report recommended that the entire data regarding cases of corruption showing the complaints received, cases under enquiry, referred for police investigation, officers chargesheeted, convicted and not found guilty must be placed in public domain.
Recognising the functions of constitutional institutions like the CAG, and premier agencies like the CVC and the CBI and their vital role and the need for safeguarding their independence and credibility, the draft report favoured putting in place a transparent system for their appointment.
The draft report recommended that a panel under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister comprising of a judge of the Supreme Court, the Home Minister and the Leader of Opposition be formed for appointment of the CAG, the CVC and the Director CBI.
It came down heavily on the disturbing tendency of some top civil servants joining private sector soon after their retirement, saying the role played by some of them in the 2G spectrum allocation scam had come under public scanner. It suggested a three-year cooling period after retirement of top civil servants before they were allowed to join any tribunal or non-governmental company. It felt that such an arrangement would break unholy nexus and the prospect of any quid-pro quo.
It was of the view that such a resolution of the government would eliminate the apprehensions expressed in many quarters about the government or private sector dangling a lucrative assignment to a civil servant on the verge of retirement, allegedly for extraneous reason.
It called for launching a frontal attack against corruption since the “cancer of corruption” was eating into the vitals of the country's polity and economy and subverting the rule of law, eroding institutions, aggravating disparities and eroding the moral and ethical values of the society.
It felt that a relook should be given at all laws dealing with different aspects of corruption so that a drastic overhaul could be undertaken. Pointing out that public servants considered corruption as a low risk and high profit business, it said that such an enactment of a stringent preventive and punitive legislation to provide for calibrated scale of punishment based on the premise that higher the post, higher the degree of responsibility and share of punishment.
It also felt that undue interference should be stopped in the working of the bureaucracy so that it works without fear or favour and in accordance with law. It recommended fast track adjudication of cases against persons occupying high positions and chargesheeted for corruption so that the guilty were punished without delay and the punishment so inflicted acts as an effective deterrent and the draft report said that steps like disqualification or rendering a person ineligible for public office or high position once convicted for corruption would go a long way in weeding out corruption.
It also said that that India, being a signatory to the U.N. Convention on Corruption, also ratify the U.N. Convention against corruption expeditiously and demonstrate to the world community its unequivocal and unwavering commitment to the crusade against corruption.
