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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Anti-graft bill before Rajya Sabha puts 4-year cap on trials

Anti-graft bill before Rajya Sabha puts 4-year cap on trials

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published Published on Dec 6, 2015   modified Modified on Dec 6, 2015
-The Times of India

NEW DELHI: The total period of trial in corruption cases will not exceed four years with a special judge initially required to wind up proceedings in two years itself. Thereafter the trial can be extended, subject to six-monthextension, states the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2015 currently before the Rajya Sabha.

The bill also stipulates recording of reasons for any delay in trial beyond two years and includes non-monetary gratification offered to a public servant under the definition of "bribe" though it places the onus on the prosecuting authority to prove that the gratification offered by a commercial entityhad the consent of any of its directors, managers, secretaries or officers.

As per the version of the bill moved by UPA in 2013, ifa commercial organization was held guilty of giving a bribe, the personacting for the organization and its head were also deemed guilty. Such persons were required to prove the offence was committed without their knowledge. This clause has been made subject to additional safeguards.

Thesignificant amendment proposed by the Modi government is the enhancement of maximum penalty for graft from existing five years to seven years, upgrading it to the "heinous" crime category.

The anti-graft bill aims to provide immunity from prosecution to retired government employees charged for acts of corruption committed by them while in office. While it will now be mandatory to take approval of the appropriate authority under Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act before investigating a graft case against a public official, such approval would not be necessary in cases that involve arrest of a person on the spot on charge of taking a bribe, either for himself or another.

"....Priorsanction for inquiry and investigation shall be required from the Lokpal or Lokayukta, as the case may be, for investigation of offences relatable to recommendations made or decision taken by a public servant in discharge of official functions or duties," state the official amendments in the bill.

The bill also specifies that a person will not be said to have given a bribe if he did so after informing a law enforcement authority or investigating agency in order to assist such body in probing the offence against a public servant. Also, as per another amendment, if a person does not perform a public function dishonestly, it would not constitute the offence of taking a bribe.

Theamendments being brought through the bill propose to confer the powers of attachment upon the trial court (Special Judge) instead of the district court.

The NDA government has refrained from introducinglarge-scale amendments to the PC Act and made only a few changes to thePrevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 that was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on August 19, 2013 by the previous UPA regime. It was referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee which had submitted its report to the Upper House on February 6, 2014. But the bill could not bepassed.


The Times of India, 6 December, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Anti-graft-bill-before-Rajya-Sabha-puts-4-year-cap-on-trials/articleshow/50060126.cms


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