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Wednesday 22 April 2015

Dealing With The Corruption In India

2G case, Satyam fraud, Coalgate and many such other issues bluntly tarnished India's image in last couple of years. Reeling under a series of corruption scandals, foreign investors sometimes feel apprehensive to invest in India, though they are aware that Indian market has great potential and it is one of the favourite business destination for US and UK's entrepreneurs. India would attract more foreign investors if it had a reputation of clean and non-corrupt country.

CAG report about 2G scam says. “The entire process lacked transparency and objectivity and has eroded the credibility of the DoT.” To boot, 85 licensees did not meet basic eligibility conditions; some had provided incomplete information and submitted fictitious documents. The 2G telecom controversy may well have ended like many others before it death by silence but for a confluence of events that included rising public anger over other corruption scandals. For more than a year since the spectrum allocations in early 2008, media reports had highlighted its flaws. Even after Raja quit, India’s Supreme Court asked the prime minister’s office to explain why it took 11 months to respond to a petition filed in November 2008 by Subramanian Swamy, president of the Janata Party, seeking permission to prosecute Raja.

In another case; the Satyam fraud, even after confessing to inflating profits by Satyam Technologies’ former CEO Ramalinga Raju, nothing has been done to retain the confidence of investors and for many the whole episode was a business nightmare.  Corollary to this, in a similar type of fraud in US, the fraudster was awarded with 150-year of imprisonment. In our neighbouring country; China, corruption cases are typically settled through physical punishment including execution and lifetime jail sentence.

There is an urgent need to take prompt actions against the guilty to rebuild confidence in India as a destination for foreign capital. The judiciary should obey Rule of Law and irrespective of the designation and status, judiciary must penalise the perpetrators of law to ensure justice and transparency in business and financial activities. Whether politicians , high-profile officials or a common man all should be equal before the law and must receive deserved punishment. Once that happens, everybody will respect the constitution and think twice before doing a fraud. Both judiciary and bureaucracy must take initiatives to curb corruption and illegal practices in business. In addition, it is the foremost duty of Indian people to wage a war against corruption using different platforms such as social media. To curb corruption judiciary must take prompt and strict actions without having a soft corner in heart for politicians and influential persons in the society.

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