NEW DELHI: Corrupt government servants will not be able to enjoy the comfort of their ill gotten wealth and proceeds of bribery with the Centre proposing a law for attachment of property of corrupt officials as soon as a case is lodged against them and even as a court trial is pending.
The Prevention of Corruption Act, at present, does not specifically provide for the confiscation of bribe and the proceeds of bribery. Hence, officials booked for corruption or disproportionate assets continue to hold on to their ill-gotten wealth even as the long trial process goes on in courts and a court may just fine the corrupt public servant on conviction besides giving him a jail sentence. But under a proposed law, the investigating agencies can get such property attached pending trial and the same can be "forfeited" to the government if the final judgment from a court is one of conviction.
"This will give the government a unique chance to plough back into the system the proceeds of corruption that was the taxpayers' money," a top officer of the Ministry of Personnel told ET. The ministry, in the recently concluded Parliament session, had introduced in Rajya Sabha, The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2013 to amend the law.
The new Chapter IVA in the proposed law says that if a police officer investigating a corruption case has "a reason to believe" that the government servant has procured money or other property by means of corruption, he can with the prior approval of government, at any stage, whether or not any court has taken cognisance, move an application before a judge for attachment of the said money or property.
Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
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