Himachal passes Bill to reign in the corrupt

Chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said,“The laws enacted in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar were studied and improvised to make it more practical and judicious for tackling the problem of corruption in Himachal Pradesh”.

The property of the public servants,accused of corruption or facing trial,would be attached in the first stage and its confiscation or disposal/auction will be done only after the case is finally disposed off.

The Bill,which was introduced in the House on Monday also received support from the Congress after Chief Minister asked the MLAs to give a message about state’s unified resolve to fight the menace of corruption.

At his appeal,Rajesh Dharmani,a Congress MLA who had sought to bring certain other categories within the purview of the law,withdrew his call for amendment.

Prior to this,the Congress MLAs while supporting the Bill asked for referring the same to select committee of the House for detailed discussions. They said the law required more deliberations to tie some loose ends. Some apprehensions expressed by the Opposition members were related to delays in the investigations by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau and also grant of persecution sanctions by the government,which are inordinately delayed.

BJP MLA Suresh Bhardwaj terming the Bill as a historic asked for an immediate passing of the Bill in view of the prevailing atmosphere in the country. He rejected the Opposition’s demand to send the Bill to a select committee on the grounds that there is always scope for changes and the government was open to amendments,if any,to make the law more stringent.

Dhumal added that it is the duty of the state to prosecute persons involved in corrupt practices. “The existing laws are insufficient as they neither provide for taking over the ill-gotten property nor a time-bound trial against the public servants involved in amassing such properties,” he said.