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Political Notes

	July 04, 2005

Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechury for Rajya Sabha



In a surprise move, the CPI(M) has decided to put up politburo members Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat in the elections for the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal. Their victory is almost assured as the Left parties can bag four of the six seats up for election from the state, going by their strength in the State Assembly. CPI(M) sources say that the party is on the look out for heavyweights for the Rajya Sabha to effectively project the party view point on important issues. The term of the present CPI(M) leader in the Upper House, Nilotpal Basu expires in April next year and Sitaram Yechury is likely to replace him after he retires.



Priya Dutt to be Congress nominee for Lok Sabha byelection



Congress has decided to put up late Sunil Dutt’s daughter, Priya Dutt, as the party candidate in the Lok Sabha byelection from Mumbai (North-West). The seat fell vacant after Sunil Dutt’s death. The debate over who should inherit his political mantle - son Sanjay or daughter Priya - was clinched in her favour when both met Congress president Sonia Gandhi.



The family seems to have come to an agreement that while Sanjay will uphold his father’s legacy in the film industry, his sister will step into the political world to carry forward his public commitment. “Whenever the bypoll takes place from Mumbai (North-West), Priya Dutt will be our candidate,” a Congress spokesman said.



Bihar ranked most corrupt state



A study by Transparency International India and the Centre for Media Studies has rated Bihar as the Most Corrupt State in the country. Kerala has been adjudged the Least Corrupt State. Delhi, the national capital, ranks as the 10th most corrupt state.

The study covered 11 services like Police, Subordinate Judiciary, Land Administration, Income Tax, Education and Public Distribution System. It found that the common man pays bribes totalling over Rs. 21,000 crores a year for various public services.



Sixty-two per cent of those surveyed said corruption is for real, having indulged in it. A third of them said corruption is on the rise compared with last year (2004-05).

Police are on top of the corruption chart, followed by lower courts and land administration. Government hospitals indulge in corruption in giving medicines and admission, as also during diagonistic services and consultation with doctors.

Despite reforms, electricity services are high on the corruption index. The public distribution system is lower down, since the beneficiaries are affected by leaks in the system rather than direct monetary corruption on the part of the service providers. Water supply figures at the other end, ranking the lowest on the corruption chart.



The findings are based on a national survey, claimed to be the largest ever with 14,405 samples across 20 states and 151 cities.

Releasing the survey, Admiral (retd.) R.H. Tahiliani, a former Naval Chief, said the situation could be remedied by legislations like the Right to Information Act, a positive role by the media and by public awareness.





CBI raids corrupt officers



The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), carried out nationwide raids at 183 places last week on corrupt public servants. Ill-gotten wealth worth more than Rs. 10 crore was unearthed. Some senior officials involved in corruption were arrested following the raids.



CBI director U.S. Misra said : “The main focus of our attention has been detection of disproportionate assets cases against corrupt public servants. Our attempt is to keep corrupt officials on the run and with such special drives, we have been successful.”



Giving details of some important cases, Misra said two Superintendents of Central Excise, anti-evasion cell, Kolkata, were arrested while demanding a bribe of Rs. 1 lakh and accepting Rs. 25,000 as the first installment. But of them were caught red-handed. A case of disproportionate assets was registered against Secretary General, National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar.





Money Laundering Act comes into force



The Prevention of Money Laundering Act has come into force from July 1. The three main objectives of the Act are to prevent and control money-laundering, confiscate and seize property obtained from laundered money, and deal with any other issue connected with money-laundering.



According to a Finance Ministry statement, the Act provides that whosoever directly or indirectly attempts to indulge or knowingly assists or knowingly is a party or is actually involved in any process of activity connected with the proceeds of the crime and project it as untainted property, shall be guilty of the offence of money-laundering.



To combat the menace of money laundering, the Government is entrusting the work relating to investigation, attachment of property/proceeds of crime relating to the scheduled offences under the Act and filing of complaints to the Directorate of Enforcement which currently deals with the offences under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.



The punishment for offices under the Act, the statement said, is rigorous imprisonment for a term of three years to seven years and a fine of upto Rs. 5 lakh. Where the money-laundering offence relates to a drug offence under the NDPS Act, the penalty can extend to a maximum of 10 years.





Time’s Asian Hero in jail



Former Patna District Magistrate Gautam Goswami, accused of involvement in Bihar Flood Relief scam, surrendered in a Patna court last week and was remanded to seven days judicial custody. A non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against him almost a month back. Goswami, adjudged by Time magazine as an Asian Hero, surrendered after the Patna High Court rejected his anticipatory bail application.



The Vigilance Bureau, investigating the Rs. 18 crore flood relief scam, petitioned the court, seeking seven days custody of Goswami for interrogation. The State Government had directed the Vigilance Bureau to probe embezzlement of funds in the self-employment and slum development schemes between June and September 2004 when Goswami was the District Magistrate of Patna.



Consumer activist H.D. Shourie passes away



H.D. Shourie, a well-known Consumer Rights activist, passed away in New Delhi last week. He was in his 90s. Founder of non-government organisation, Common Cause, Shourie was almost single-handedly instrumental in effecting an array of administrative reforms through the orders he secured over the years from the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court.



Ironically, he passed away within days of seeing his long-cherished cause of the Right to Information Act coming into force. Shourie was the chairman of the high-powered committee that first recommended such a law in 1997.

Shourie’s career as an indefatigable PIL petitioner began in 1980 when as a retired civil servant, he challenged the Government’s decision to increase the pension only of those who retired after a certain date. Allowing his petition, the Supreme Court directed the Government to pay enhanced pension to all retired employees.



Again, it was on his PIL, against power cuts in Delhi that the Sheila Dikshit administration initiated reforms in the sector and privatise distribution. He could not, however, persuade the courts to force the government to notify the Delhi Rent Act and end a system loaded in favour of tenants.