A day after Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan pointed at delays in granting sanction to prosecute corrupt government officials, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily on Sunday said there was need to ‘revisit’ constitutional provisions giving protection to civil servants.“There is no gainsaying that the provisions of Article 311 have come in the way of bringing corrupt civil servants to book. Article 311 would require a revisit… this needs to be done. I am pursuing the matter with the Prime Minister and the government,” said Moily while addressing a seminar on combating corruption — it was organised by the CBI and National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences.
His remarks assume significance given that CJI Balakrishnan had pointed to procedural delays like grant of sanction in initiating action against corrupt officials.
Quoting the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption which remarked that “Article 311 of the Constitution as interpreted by our courts has made it very difficult to deal effectively with corrupt civil servants,” Moily said “even after Article 311 was amended, the panoply of safeguards and procedures still available is interpreted in such a manner as to make the proceedings protracted, and therefore, effete in the ultimate analysis.”
“There is a perception that public services have largely been exempted from the imposition of the penalties due to complicated procedures that have arisen out of the constitutional guarantee against arbitrary and motivated actions. People who abuse public office for private gain at the cost of the public and national interest are being shielded from facing swift and stringent punishments.”
“There is need for rationalisation and simplification of procedures to prevent the corrupt and dishonest elements in the system from cornering the benefit of the constitutional safeguards,” he said.
“Of 153 cases for sanction, 21 cases were pending for more than 3 years, 26 cases between 2-3 years, 25 between 1-2 years. Departmental enquiries are soft-pedalled either out of patronage or misplaced compassion.”
Expressing concern over the poor rate of conviction in bribery cases, Moily said it reflects “very badly” on the country’s judiciary and investigative agencies.
(The Indian Express, 14 September 2009)
