I would like to begin this post by saluting Anna Hazare – who brought the entire nation together with his selfless agitation against corruption and forced the government to succumb and commit introduction of the Jan Lok Pal Bill to tackle the menace of corruption. It is a commendable effort by a 76 year old and deserves the highest accolades!
Without much discussion or debate, we can safely conclude that most of the Indian politicians are corrupt. The recent spate of scams - CWG scam, 2G scam etc. only goes to support this profoundly disturbing truth. But let's admit - it's just not the politicians, its in all walks of life.
As a citizen, are we responsible in any way for the current state of this country?. How many of us can claim that we have never paid bribe or greased palms to get our work done?. The instance may be frivolous or one we may not even remember, it could be for a traffic violation, or for a confirmed ticket in a train, it could be for a school admission, or for getting a driving license. Each one of us has contributed in our own way to growing this irrepressible menace of corruption.
According to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, paying bribe and accepting bribe, both are punishable offence by law.
Recently, I came across a paper by Mr. Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance , Government of India, titled ‘Why, for a Class of Bribes, the Act of Giving a Bribe should be Treated as Legal’, where the author talks about the concept of ‘harassment bribe’. Harassment bribe according to him, is the bribes that people often have to give to get what they are legally entitled to, he says these should be made legal. Examples of harassment bribes quoted in the study are; suppose an income tax refund is held back from a taxpayer till he pays some cash to the officer; suppose government allots subsidized land to a person but when the person goes to get his/her paperwork done and receive documents for this land, he/she is asked to pay a hefty bribe. Read more at http://finmin.nic.in/WorkingPaper/Act_Giving_Bribe_Legal.pdf
The central message of this paper by Mr.Kaushik Basu is that we should declare the act of giving a bribe in all such cases as legitimate activity. In other words the giver of a harassment bribe should have full immunity from any punitive action by the state. Of course the author suggests strong punishment for the bribe taker.
Whether this concept of harassment bribe will receive acceptance in the eyes of law is something only time will tell, but for now, both acts of giving and taking bribe are punishable by law.
To conclude, as it stands today bribe in any form, giving or taking is bad at law. Given the state of affairs, I would be considered naïve if I say that you can live in this society without ever having to pay a bribe.
But once the Jan Lokpal Bill is a reality (hopefully it will be by end of this year) – every citizen of the country should also be obligated to do his due……………..
To borrow a famous quote from the Spiderman series - With great power comes great responsibility!
