Govt comes out with slew of anti-graft measures

New Delhi, Sep 14 (PTI) Under attack over corruption, the
Indian government Wednesday came out with a slew of anti-graft
measures which include doing away with certain discretionary
powers of ministers, a three-month limit to grant sanction for
prosecution and setting up of fast-track courts.
The measures form part of the recommendations of a Group
of Ministers (GoM) to curb corruption, headed by Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee, which were submitted to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh.
The recommendations of the GoM, which was set up in
January, will be implemented through government orders soon,
Law Minister Salman Khursheed and Minister of State for
Personnel V Narayanasamy told reporters here.
A new policy and a bill on public procurement in the
Winter Session of Parliament to tackle corruption and make the
procedure more transparent, they said.
Narayanasamy said the GoM has recommended that the
ministers would have no discretionary powers in the allotment
of land, telephone and petrol pumps.
"These powers have been removed," barring in cases of
compensation to victims of Naxal violence by the Home Ministry
and to war widows by the Defence Ministry, he said.
The misuse of discretionary quota came into focus after
cases of corruption came to light last year.
The measures are in tune with the suggestions made by
Congress President Sonia Gandhi at the party's Burari
convention.
In all corruption cases where the investigating agency
seeks sanction for prosecution, it would be mandatory for
the competent authority, including the prime minister and
the ministers concerned, to take a decision and give a
'speaking order' within a period of three months from the date
of receipt of the request.
In the event of refusal of sanction to prosecute, the
competent authority would have to submit its order, including
the reasons for refusal, to the next higher authority for
information within seven days, Narayanasamy said.
Wherever the minister in-charge of the department is the
competent authority and he decides to deny permission for
prosecution, it would be incumbent on the minister to report
it to the prime minister within seven days.
On the fast-tracking of almost 10,000 pending CBI cases,
he said a decision to set up 71 special courts has been taken
and 44 of them have started working already.
A committee, headed by a sitting Supreme Court judge,
would be set up for studying cases which have been pending
trial for more than 10 years and make recommendations for
their speedy disposal or withdrawal.
The committee, which would look at cases under the
Prevention of Corruption Act, would include retired CVC, CBI
director and another person of impeccable repute from civil
society, he said, adding that almost 2,600 cases were over a
decade old.
Asked whether anti-graft measures were being announced
under the impact of the Anna Hazare agitation, he pointed out
that the GoM on corruption was set up on January 6, much
before Hazare began his fast in April.