Govt may seize properties of corrupt babus

Unable to arrest corruption among government officials despite a special criminal law, Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, the Centre is now planning to take a drastic step -- amend the Act to allow confiscation of properties of tainted babus. The PC Act, which provides for a maximum jail term of seven years for a convicted official, has no provision empowering the government to seize the unaccounted for property. ``We are seriously considering a proposal for amending the PC Act to allow the state to confiscate an official's property obtained through corrupt means after a court convicts him,'' law minister Veerappa Moily told TOI. However, the law ministry is still examining when to invoke this drastic measure -- after a court convicts a corrupt official or after the convicted official exhausts his appeal remedy. In either case, the amendments will not be as drastic as demanded by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Kumar had recently met Moily over a proposed state law envisaging confiscation of property by the government immediately after the police files a chargesheet against an official accused of corruption. The law ministry officials fear that such a provision would surely be misused by vindictive politicians after a regime change to wreak vengeance on officials close to the previous government. Section 12 of the PC Act provides for a jail term between six months and five years along with a fine for government officials found guilty of corruption charges for the first time. However, the punishment gets a little stringent for habitual offenders under Section 14, which provides for a minimum two years imprisonment and a maximum of seven years in jail. Chief Justice of India, K G Balakrishnan, at a seminar organized by CBI on September 12 had said that though the PC Act covered substantive acts of corruption among officials, the quantum of punishment appeared inadequate. He had echoed persistent demands for enhancing penalties and punishments under the Act. ``One prominent suggestion is the inclusion of a statutory remedy that will enable confiscation of properties belonging to persons who are convicted of offences under the PC Act. The rationale behind it is that if a public official amasses wealth at the cost of public, then the state is justified in seizing such assets,'' Justice Balakrishnan had said. However, adding a note of caution, the CJI had said: ``Such proposals need to be thoroughly examined for their constitutional compatibility before being enacted in the form of legislation.'' This is what the law ministry is doing at present.

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