Prevent of Corruption Law

What is Corruption?

Corruption is the misuse of public power (by elected politicians or elected civil servant) for private profit. In order to assure that not only public corruption but also private corruption between people and businesses could be reached by the same

Simple definition:

Corruption is the misuse of trusted power (by heritage, education, marriage, election, appointment or whatever else) for private gain.

Filing complaint place-

The complaint can be registered with the Deputy Superintendent of Police or Inspector of Police. It can also be given to the senior officers at the Head Office of the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

How to apply a complaint-

1. through e-mail with full postal address and contact details of the complainant.

2. By post with complete registered address and contact details of the complainant.

3. by physically attending the Directorate Office and handing over the complaint.

In India, you can file corruption accusations with at least three government-established organizations. 2 of these 3—the Central Vigilance Commission and the Central Bureau of Investigation—work in tandem.

Start there is the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). Set in 1964, this is a central level body.

It can take corruption-related complaints upon central government employees only. Also, the Commission can only take notice of signed charges i.e. it does not act on anonymous complaints. However, under the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informer (PIDPI) Resolution, it can have the complainant’s identity a secret.

Here's a list of employee levels the Commission can accept complaints against:

• Central government ministries and departments• Central government public sector undertakings• Nationalised banks and insurance companies• Autonomous systems created through an Act of the Parliament or under the administrative control of Government of India, same All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Port Trusts, and Delhi Development Authority• Centrally controlled territories cover Delhi, Chandigarh, Daman and Diu, and Puducherry• Societies and local authorities owned or managed by the Indian government

• You can complain through a letter or email. You can also register your grievance online.

• Then, there is the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CVC rules its investigation by this body. But the CBI also takes complaints independently.

• You can complain by fax, post, e-mail, through a phone call, and even on the CBI website.

Then there is the state level Anti-Corruption Bureau. According to an official at the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau who did not wish to be named, every state has its anti-corruption bureau. He also said that their jurisdiction is limited to the state and they can only take complaints against state government employees.

How to stop Corruption

1. END IMPUNITY 

Effective law enforcement is necessary to ensure the corrupt are punished and break the cycle of privilege, or freedom from punishment or loss. 

Successful implementation approaches are supported by a strong legal framework, law enforcement branches, and an independent and effective court system. Civil society can help the process with actions such as Transparency International’s Unmask the Corrupt campaign.

2. REFORM PUBLIC Performance AND FINANCE MANAGEMENT

Reforms concentrating on improving financial management and increasing the role of auditing agencies have in many countries achieved greater impact than public sector reforms on controlling corruption.  

One such reform is the declaration of budget information, which prevents waste and misappropriation of resources. For example, Transparency International Sri Lanka supports transparent and participatory budgeting by training local areas to comment on the proposed budgets of their local government.  

3. PROMOTE Clarity AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Countries strong at curbing corruption have a long tradition of government openness, freedom of the press, transparency, and access to information. Access to data increases the responsiveness of government bodies, while simultaneously having a definite effect on the levels of public participation in a country. 

Transparency International Maldives successfully advocated for the selection of one of the world’s strongest rights to data law by putting pressure on local MPs via a campaign of SMS text messages.

4. EMPOWER CITIZENS

Strengthening citizen's demand for anti-corruption and empowering them to hold the government responsible is a sustainable approach that helps to create mutual trust between citizens and government. For example, community monitoring actions have in some cases contributed to the detection of corruption, reduced leakages of funds, and increased the quantity and quality of public services.

To monitor local elections, Transparency International Slovenia created an interactive map that the public populated with pictures and reports of potential irregularities in the election. As a result, cases of public funds being misused to support some candidates were spotted.

5. CLOSE INTERNATIONAL Avoidances

Without access to the international financial system, corrupt public officials throughout the world would not be ready to launder and hide the interests of looted state assets. Major financial centers urgently need to put in place ways to stop their banks and cooperating offshore financial centers from receiving illicit flows of money. 

The European Union recently approved the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which requires EU member-states to create registers of the beneficial owners of companies built within their borders. However, the directive does not need these registers to be made public. Similarly, the Norwegian, UK and Ukrainian governments have all approved legislation compelling companies to disclose data about their owners, although these have yet to come into force.

For more arguments and evidence on successful anti-corruption reforms, Visit or see Thelegalbank

Offences and penalties under the act:-

The following are the offenses under the PCA along with their punishments:- Taking pleasure other than legal remuneration in honour of an official act, and if the public servant is found liable shall be condemned with imprisonment which shall be not less than 6 months but which may extend to 5 years and shall also be subject to fine.

• Taking satisfaction in order to influence public servants, by corrupt or illegal means, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than 3 years but which may extend to 7 years and shall also be subject to fine.
• Taking pleasure, for the exercise of personal influence with public servant shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than 6 months but which may extend to 5 years and shall also be subject to fine.
• Abetment by public servant of offenses defined in Section 8 or 9, shall be guilty with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than 6 months but which may extend to 5 years and shall also be responsible to fine.
• Public servant obtaining important thing without consideration from person concerned in proceeding or business transacted by such public servant shall be condemned with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than 6 months but which may extend to 5 years and shall also be responsible to fine.
• Punishment for abetment of offenses described in Section 7 or 11 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than 6 months but which may extend to 5 years and shall also be responsible for fine.
• Any public servant, who commits criminal misconduct shall be libel to punishment with imprisonment for a condition which shall be not less than one year but which may extend to 7 years and shall also be responsible for fine.
• Habitual committing of an offense under Section 8, 9 and 12 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than two years but which may extend to 7 years and shall also be responsible to fine.