The Anna tsunami, which swept over the country and especially the 24x7 news channels from August 15 to 28, 2011, is over. The UPA-II government is licking its wounds and has zero credibility in the public eye of its will to fight corruption, which is its own Frankenstein's monster.
Is there any practical way of the Government of India regaining a modicum of credibility as a regime which will really fight corruption effectively?
It is in this context that I am undertaking an exercise in double foolishness. It is said there are two types of fools in this world. The first type are those who give sound and sensible advice when no one has asked for it. The second are those who do not heed sound and sensible advice when it is given.
No one has asked me for advice. I have no hope that the Government of India will implement my ideas that even though they are imminently practical and sure to be effective.
Here we go.
What we need is some action — concrete, tangible action — which will create a sound framework for drastically reducing corruption in governance.
The first step is the creation of a set of laws. Let us not forget that all these days Anna Hazare and his team were agitating for a single law — the Lokpal Bill. Everybody knows that enacting the law is no panacea. But that is where we begin.
The Government of India, as usual, is sitting on a pile of good suggestions, solutions and draft bills without taking any action. The Anna tsunami must at least jolt it into going through some motions of action.
My suggestion is simply this. Within a week after the current Parliament session is over, the government must issue five ordinances:
1. The Benami Transaction Prohibition Ordinance: The Benami Transaction Prohibition Act 1989 has been a dead letter for the last 22 years. It is learnt that the Cabinet has approved a more effective Bill recently. No need to draft anything afresh. Issue the ordinance ASAP in computerese.
2. The Corrupt Public Servants (Confiscation of Illegal Wealth) Ordinance: When I was CVC, I persuaded the Law Commission, headed by Justice Jeevan Reddy, to draft this Bill. It has been gathering dust perhaps in the Department of Personnel and Training or the Ministry of Law from February 2002. It can be readily published as an ordinance.
3. The Whistle-Blower Protection Ordinance: The Whistle-Blower Protection Bill was introduced in August 2010 and is yet to be passed. The same could immediately be issued as an ordinance.
4. The Representation of the People Act and Rules: Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, in deciding the P.J. Thomas case, articulated the concept of “the integrity of the institution.” I fully respect the commitment shown by the Congress, the BJP and the CPI (M) for ensuring that the sacred principle of democracy that Parliament is the sole body empowered to make laws for the country. If this is true, can it have as its honourable members criminals or potential criminals? There is an urgent need to throw them out or at least ensure that they do not get elected in future.
The relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act and Rules can be amended by declaring that any candidate who has been convicted in a court of law even for less than two years or against whom criminal charges have been framed in a court cannot contest elections till he is fully cleared and acquitted.
It is a fact that today a candidate who has been convicted in a court of law for two years' imprisonment can still contest elections and become a lawmaker. This goes directly against the principle of the “integrity of the institution” of Parliament/Legislature as a lawmaking body for good governance. Any candidate, against whom criminal charges have been framed in a court of law, will be debarred from contesting the election till he is acquitted finally in the court. This measure will in one stroke ensure that criminalisation of politics is effectively checked.
5. That brings us to the next ordinance. Our political leaders have been mouthing the holy slogan that every one is innocent till he is convicted in a court of law and proved guilty. The concept of the “integrity of the institution” removes that presumption. If criminals and potential criminals are debarred from contesting elections, the political class in which they form a significant part may raise the issue that it will be decades before the courts decide the cases. (According to some reports, at least 20 per cent of the current crop of MPs has criminal charges framed against them in court.) The solution is to issue the fifth ordinance, by which in cases of corruption there will be a six-month limit for conducting the original case at the end of which a decision must be given. There will be only one appeal allowed and the appellate court also must decide the case in six months. This will drastically cut down delay in corruption cases.
As regards speeding up the rest of the judicial system, Mr. Veerappa Moily as Law Minister made brave noises about implementing the recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission. Well, before the winter session starts, the government can at least start the walk on all this brave talk.
These measures will dramatically restore the government's credibility. More important, whenever the Lokpal Bill is introduced in Parliament, the government can readily point out that the substantial part of the Bill has already been covered by the action taken by it through the above measures.
Miracles do happen, sometimes. Kiran Bedi, while explaining her notorious “ghoonghat act” on the Ramlila Maidan on August 27, said she had tweeted about a miracle helping to resolve Anna's fast and thanks to the intervention of Advaniji, it really happened. Can we expect a miracle at the end of this exercise in double foolishness?
(The writer is a former Central Vigilance Commissioner. His email id is: nagarajanvittal@ hotmail.com)
