HC: Why can’t Goondas Act be slapped on corrupt babus?Suresh Kumar
| TNN | Dec 6, 2017, 06:36 IST
CHENNAI: How about Goondas Act detention for corrupt bureaucrats, the Madras HC asked on Tuesday, and said that till a special law on preventive detention was brought out, government could invoke Goondas Act to detain corrupt officers. Justice N Kirubakaran said corruption too resulted in public order disturbance — the legal goad for invoking the Goondas Act — and pointed to a Transparency International survey that said: " India is the most corrupt nation in Asia, followed by Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan."
'Corruption rampant in all govt departments'
The judge said, "When it comes to bribery, an article published by Forbes has rated India as the highest on the list with 69% bribery rate. Corruption has become rampant in all government departments, in spite of enactment of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. It is being said that corruption has become the order of the day and most of the official functions are done only on payment of illegal gratification."
The judge made the observations on a plea moved by T Boopathy seeking a direction to sub-registrar of Pammal to release property documents presented for registration. The petitioner said his documents had been withheld by the authorities for more than a year, as he had refused to pay bribe demanded by them. Noting that the case was only the tip of the iceberg and almost all the government offices were said to have become bedrocks of corruption, the judge said some urgent preventive measures should be taken in the interest of the administration and people.
The judge then posed 15 queries to be answered by the state government and the vigilance commissioner. The queries include details of raids conducted by the DVAC in the past 10 years, criminal cases registered and rate of conviction. The authorities were directed to file their replies by December 11.
Justice Kirubakaran underlined the pressing need to bring out a special law (Preventive Detention Act) to detain corrupt public officials, and added, "Till such an act is enacted, why should the government not invoke the Goondas Act to detain corrupt officials on the ground that their corrupt acts affect or are likely to affect the maintenance of public order adversely."
| TNN | Dec 6, 2017, 06:36 IST
CHENNAI: How about Goondas Act detention for corrupt bureaucrats, the Madras HC asked on Tuesday, and said that till a special law on preventive detention was brought out, government could invoke Goondas Act to detain corrupt officers. Justice N Kirubakaran said corruption too resulted in public order disturbance — the legal goad for invoking the Goondas Act — and pointed to a Transparency International survey that said: " India is the most corrupt nation in Asia, followed by Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan."
'Corruption rampant in all govt departments'
The judge said, "When it comes to bribery, an article published by Forbes has rated India as the highest on the list with 69% bribery rate. Corruption has become rampant in all government departments, in spite of enactment of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. It is being said that corruption has become the order of the day and most of the official functions are done only on payment of illegal gratification."
The judge made the observations on a plea moved by T Boopathy seeking a direction to sub-registrar of Pammal to release property documents presented for registration. The petitioner said his documents had been withheld by the authorities for more than a year, as he had refused to pay bribe demanded by them. Noting that the case was only the tip of the iceberg and almost all the government offices were said to have become bedrocks of corruption, the judge said some urgent preventive measures should be taken in the interest of the administration and people.
The judge then posed 15 queries to be answered by the state government and the vigilance commissioner. The queries include details of raids conducted by the DVAC in the past 10 years, criminal cases registered and rate of conviction. The authorities were directed to file their replies by December 11.
Justice Kirubakaran underlined the pressing need to bring out a special law (Preventive Detention Act) to detain corrupt public officials, and added, "Till such an act is enacted, why should the government not invoke the Goondas Act to detain corrupt officials on the ground that their corrupt acts affect or are likely to affect the maintenance of public order adversely."
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