New Delhi: Another of the promises made by recently elected Chief Minister of Delhi – Arvind Kejriwal seems to have stuck in a quagmire. Delivering his reforms agenda, Kejriwal had advised people that if anybody had to pay bribe to any corrupt official then he/she may make the recording of the same and send it to him and a strict action will be taken against the corrupt official.
However, it may be noted that such a person (the one who has paid the bribe) could land up in jail for up to seven years if they go by Kejriwal's advice.
The reason being, that the Narendra Modi government has intended to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act which will make it a crime for people to pay bribes, even if they had been compelled to pay the same by corrupt officials.
As published in a report by Hindustan Times, the only exception to this ‘jail for bribe giver' will be if he or she will first inform the anti-corruption agencies before paying up, to let them to lay a trap for the corrupt.
Clearly, there is no immunity for people who inform the anti-corruption agencies or Chief Minister Kejriwal after paying the bribe hence landing the ‘bribe giver' in jail.
It is learnt that the amendment by the Modi government owes its origin to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption that required signatory countries to bring their domestic laws in tune with the international convention.
When Aam Aadmi Party leader Prashant Bhushan was asked whether Kejriwal would now choose to change his strategy for the same, he said he would need to study the provisions in detail. However, he also added that people recording themselves paying bribes to catch the corrupt could be treated as a sting operation provided they could back this claim by irrefutable evidence.
