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HVK Archives: How to end corruption

How to end corruption - The Economic Times

Editorial ()
24 July 1997

Title:
Author: Editorial
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: July 24, 1997

It is not enough for the Prime Minister, Mr Inder Gujral, to bemoan the
fact that corruption has become pervasive. He must do something about it.
Some time ago the home minister, Mr Indrajit Gupta, also moaned helplessly
about corruption. These two gentlemen are honest rarities in a profession
dominated by rogues. Yet the whole system in India is so flawed that two
honest men cannot end corruption. We need a system where criminality is
regularly penalised and good behaviour rewarded. This was indeed the case
when India became independent, but today the police and judiciary look
incapable of delivering speedy justice. Apart from corruption and political
interference, prosecution has become an interminable and disheartening
process which wears everybody out. The accused typically die of old age
before exhausting all appeals. The police say in disgust even if they
catch anyone, the courts are incapable of convicting them in a reasonable
period. And the courts in turn complain that the police are so incompetent
or venal that they do not produce strong enough cases. The remedies are
clear. We need judicial reform and police reform as a matter of top
priority. Once the police-judicial system regularly penalises dishonesty,
corruption will automatically. go down.

A recent Times of India report on Korea mentions that criminal cases there
take just 14 months including appeals. Former Presidents Chun and Rob were
tried and convicted within months. India needs a system which can move
swiftly against the powerful. Judicial reform must start with a vast
expansion of courts and new procedures that ensure quick trials. New
judicial norms are needed where lack of speed is recognised as so
prejudicial to justice that a judge who fails to act swiftly must be held
accountable and penalised. So must policemen who fail to investigate cases
quickly. Ideally, this means an independent police commission headed by
somebody with the powers analogous to that of the Chief Election
Commissioner. Instead of a Lokpal we need a special prosecutor who has
independence, tenure and access to all government files. If Mr Gujral is
serious about tackling corruption, he must set the ball rolling on judicial
and police reform.


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