Govt may amend IPC in tandem with UN Convention on Corruption

New Delhi, Sep 26 (PTI) Giving or taking bribe in the
private sector might come under the purview of the Indian
Penal Code if it is amended in tandem with the UN Convention
on Corruption.
Besides this, in an effort to check corruption in
procurement processes, which involves huge amount of money,
the Centre will soon bring a bill to regulate these
procedures.
"Corruption in the private sector is a major issue of
concern for people of this country... to take action on those
people (an) amendment in Indian Penal Code (IPC) is on anvil
that initiative we have taken," Indian Minister of State for
Personnel V Narayanasamy said.
India has to amend the IPC after it ratified the UN
Convention of Corruption. Article 12 of the UN convention says
that each country shall take measures, in accordance with the
fundamental principles of its domestic law, to prevent
corruption involving the private sector, enhance accounting
and auditing standards in the private sector and, where
appropriate, provide effective, proportionate and dissuasive
civil, administrative or criminal penalties for failure to
comply with such measures.
Narayanasamy was briefing the media about the
forthcoming conference of 'Asian Development Bank and the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OECD) Initiative for
Asia and the Pacific' for building multidisciplinary
frameworks to combat corruption.
"Finance Ministry is taking the initiative for
bringing the Bill -- the Public Procurement Bill. We want a
transparent manner of public procurement and it should be
uniform," he said.
The ADB-OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and
the Pacific, and government, have organised this conference to
help governments, businesses and citizens in Asia-Pacific find
holistic approaches to the corruption problem, the minister
said.
Besides, the meet will have discussion on broad subjects
like international cooperation in multi-jurisdictional probe,
measures to prevent and detect corruption in public
procurement, corporate compliance, internal controls and
ethics measures to fight corruption, and strong citizen
contributions to these frameworks.
Whereas, there will be additional smaller breakout
sessions which will delve further into more specialised areas
of interest, such as effective international information
sharing in investigations and strengthening citizens'
participation to increase integrity and transparency in
government.
The conference will gather experts from the 28 member
countries and economies of the ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption
Initiative for Asia and the Pacific. In addition, leading
global experts, including from other regions and OECD member
countries, will share their experiences.
Experts will come from all the relevant disciplines –
representing international organisations, leading enterprises
and businesses associations, civil society, and multilateral
and donor organisations.
The conference is designed for policy makers,
legislators, compliance practitioners, and civil society and
private sector representatives seeking holistic solutions to
corruption in Asia-Pacific.