The Madras High Court Bench here on Tuesday suggested that the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption shed the archaic procedures for laying a trap in corruption cases and use gadgets such as spy cameras and mobile phones to catch the guilty.
Justice N. Kirubakaran made the suggestion to Additional Advocate-General (AAG) K. Chellapandian while hearing a case seeking a directive to the DVAC to register a case against a tahsildar in Tirunelveli district on the charge of demanding Rs.2,000 for issuing a no-objection certificate.
The judge told the AAG that the DVAC “may not be able to catch even a mouse” by following procedures prescribed under a manual prepared in 1982. “You have to adopt new technologies to trap the guilty who are adopting scientific methods for corruption,” he said.
Pointing out that the manual prescribed recording of conversations between the accused and the complainant with the help of tape recorders, the judge said: “Tape recorders have virtually become antique items in this modern age. Yet, you are still harping on such devices.”
Further, corruption had become an order of the day to the extent of non-corrupt officials being branded as “worthless,” and it was high time for the government to change the situation by curbing the menace with an iron hand, he said.
“It is the duty of DVAC sleuths to bring to the attention of their higher officials the difficulties they faced while following old procedures. You should also write to the government and suggest the use of new technologies to prevent corruption,” the judge told the AAG before adjourning the hearing.
Earlier, the AAG informed the judge that the DVAC had received 6,600 complaints last year alone, about bribery of various government servants.
Stating that the figure seemed to be very moderate, the judge observed: “Six thousand six hundred complaints in a year are nothing. I would say that you would be receiving many complaints every day if all victims filed complaints without any hesitation.”
