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1. It is the repetition of affirmations that leads to Elimination of corruption is not only a moral
belief. And once that belief becomes deep imperative but an economic necessity for a nation
conviction, things begin to happen Mohammed aspiring to catch up with the rest of the world.
Ali. Perceived governance quality measures Voice
2. Without civic morality, communities perish; and Accountability, absence of political instability
without personal morality, their survival has no and violence; government effectiveness;
value Bertrand Russell. reasonableness of the regulatory burden; the rule
3. You must be the change you wish to see in the
of law; and the absence of graft.
world Gandhi.
4. As human beings, our greatness lies not so much Rule of law measures whether crime is properly
in being able to remake the world - that is the myth punished or not; enforceability of contracts;
of the atomic age - as in being able to remake extent of black market; enforceable rights of
ourselves- Gandhi. property; judiciarys independence.
5. The line separating good and evil passes not Public office should be treated as a trust. There are
between states nor between classes but through two facets to corruption: (1) the institution which
the middle of every human heart Aleksandr is highly corrupt; (2) individuals who are highly
Solzhenitsyn (Russian Author) corrupt.
6. The punishment suffered by the wise who refuse The rule of law can only defeat the perverse mind.
to take part in government, is to suffer under the However, it cannot defeat the perversity of the
government of bad men. Plato. (If governance is
heart.
by men who are derelict, the governed will suffer)
7. Law should be so succinct that it can be carried in Ethics is a set of standards that helps guide
the pocket of the coat and it should be so simple conduct. Ethics is a set of standards that society
that it can be understood by a peasant Napoleon. places on itself and which helps guide behaviour,
8. The purpose of a government is to make it easy choices and actions.
for people to do good and difficult to do evil Corruption is an important manifestation of the
Gladstone. failure of ethics. Corruption is so deeply
9. Rivers do not drink their waters themselves, nor entrenched in the system that most people regard
do trees eat their fruit, nor do the clouds eat the corruption as inevitable and any effort to fight it as
grains raised by them. The wealth of the noble is futile.
used solely for the benefit of others. In the real world, both values and institutions
10. Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be matter. Values are needed to serve as guiding
inevitable products of democracy, as they stars, and they exist in abundance in our society. A
undoubtedly are today. Gandhi sense of right and wrong is intrinsic to our culture
11. Great things are not done by impulse but by a and civilization. But values need to be sustained by
series of small things brought together. And great institutions to be durable and to serve as an
things are not accidental, but must certainly be example to others.
willed. Vincent Van Gogh. Values without institutional support will soon be
12. The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and weakened and dissipated. Institutions provide the
the storm terrible, but they have never found container, which gives shape and content to
these dangers sufficient reason for remaining values.
ashore V V Gogh. In our society, corruption and abuse of office has
13. Conscience is a mans compass V V Gogh. been aggravated by three factors (i) Colonial
14. The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting legacy of unchallenged authority and propensity
our aim too high and falling short; but in setting to exercise power arbitrarily.
our aim too low, and achieving our mark. (ii) Enormous asymmetry of power in our society.
Michelangelo. Such asymmetry of power reduces societal
15. Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle pressure to conform to ethical behaviour and
Michelangelo. makes it easy to indulge in corruption.
16. Faith in oneself is the best and safest course (iii) Early decades after independence, excessive
Michelangelo. state control in many sectors created conditions
17. Plans are nothing. Planning is everything D D conducive to unbridled corruption.
Eisenhower. Implementation of the plans is the
It is generally recognized that monopoly and
most important thing.
discretion increase the propensity to corruption
18. To accept a gift is like selling your liberty - An
while competition and transparency reduce
ancient saying.
corruption.
The more remotely the power is exercised from People Act was unconstitutional as it violated
the people, the greater is the distance between equality before law. Now all convicted candidates
authority and accountability. The large number of stand at an election on the same footing, whether
functionaries between the citizen and final at the time of conviction they were incumbent
decision-makers makes accountability diffused legislators or not.
and the temptation to abuse authority strong. (iv) Enforcement of the code of conduct; (v) Free
Right to Information, effective citizens charters , and fearless polling Police arrangements have
stake-holders involvement in delivery of public been improved and including greater use of
services, public consultation in decision making central forces; using of EVMs in the poll process,
and social auditing are some of the instruments of etc.
accountability that dramatically curbed (vi) Reduction in size of council of ministers The
corruption and promoted integrity and quality of Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act, 2003
decision making. restricts the size of the Council of Ministers to 15%
The state and a system of laws exist in order to of the strength of the Lower House in
enforce compliance and promote desirable Parliament/State legislature.
behaviour. Therefore, enforcement of rule of law Reform of Political Funding: Internationally,
and deterrent punishment against corruption are there are three broad patterns of state funding for
critical to build an ethically sound society. political parties and elections.
There should be a paradigm shift from the (i) Minimalist pattern, wherein elections alone
pejorative business ethics to ethics in business are partially subsidized usually through specific
Criminalization of politics participation of grants or state rendered services. Candidates are
criminals in the electoral processes is the soft accountable to the public authority for
underbelly of our political system. observance, reporting and disclosure of
The growth of crime and violence in our society expenditure for the limited election period. Ex. UK,
many causes Flagrant violation of laws, poor Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
quality of services and the corruption in them, (ii) Maximalist Pattern - involves public funding
protection for law-breakers on political, group, not merely for elections but even for other party
class, communal or caste grounds, partisan activities, as in Sweden and Germany. This pattern
interference in investigation of crimes and poor involves less detailed regulation of contributions
prosecution of cases, inordinate delays lasting and expenditure because parties are dependent
over years and high costs in the judicial process, largely on state support and local requirements
mass withdrawal of cases, indiscriminate grant of enforce internal democracy as well as general
parole, etc., are the more important of the causes. transparency.
EC says 1 in 6 legislators in India faced grave (iii) Mix of both patterns Partial
criminal charges. (ADR myneta.info) says that reimbursement for public funding of elections on
34% of the LS 2014 MPs have self-declared a matching grant basis like France, Netherlands,
criminal cases against them. and S Korea.
Large illegal, and illegitimate expenditure in The Dinesh Goswami Committee on Electoral
elections is another root cause of corruption. Reforms set up in 1990 recommended limited
Recent Improvements/Initiatives to curb support, in kind, for vehicle fuel, hire charges of
malpractices in elections: (i) Improvement in microphones, copies of electoral rolls, etc. and
Accuracy of Electoral Rolls timely revision of recommended a ban on company donations.
electoral rolls and provision of photo ID Cards, Also, Indrajit committee on state funding of
online submission for changes in voter info etc. elections has recommended partial state funding
(ii) Disclosure of Antecedents of Candidates: The mainly in kind.
Supreme Court has directed that a candidate NCRWC
should declare any conviction by a court or Recent Finance Bill, 2016 mandates disclosure of
whether a criminal case is pending against him; party finances and contributions over .2000/-
The direction to file a declaration of assets and and introduction of Electoral Bonds is under
liabilities of the candidate and family members consideration.
would enable a check at the time of the next ARC Recommendation A system for partial state
elections. funding should be introduced in order to reduce
(iii) Disqualification of Persons Convicted of the scope of illegitimate and unnecessary funding
Criminal Offence - The Supreme Court ruled in of expenditure for elections.
2005 that Section 8(4) of the Representation of the
Tightening of Anti-defection Law: Defection ARC Recomn. HC burdened with cases; Set up
manipulation of the political system for furthering Special Election Tribunals for a period of 1 year,
private interests a potent source of political extendable for 6 months in exceptions under
corruption. The 91st CAA mandates resignation of Article 323B to ensure speedy disposal; comprise
legislative membership for all those who switch of HC judge and a senior civil servant with 5 years
political sides. ECI has insisted on internal of experience in conducting elections.
elections in political parties to elect their leaders. Disqualification of members Article 102 and
ARC Recomn. The issue of disqualification of Article 198 stipulate conditions for
members on grounds of defection should be disqualifications. A law under 102(e) may be
decided by the President/Governor on the advice enacted spelling out the conditions for
of the Election Commission. disqualifications in an exhaustive manner.
NCRWC Recomn. Ethics in Public Life: Ethics provides basis for
Disqualification of members - Section 8 of the creation of laws and rules. Our legal system
Representation of the People Act, 1951 needs to be emanates from a shared vision of what is good and
amended to disqualify all persons facing charges just.
related to grave and heinous offences and The fundamental principle in a democracy is that
corruption, with modification suggested by EC (as all persons holding authority derive it from the
a precaution against motivated cases, cases filed 6 people; in other words, all public functionaries are
months before an election would lead to trustees of the people.
disqualification). The trusteeship relationship between the public
False declarations All False Declarations before and the officials requires that the authority
RO, EO and CEO or the EC should be made an entrusted to the officials be exercised in the best
electoral offence under Section 31 of RPA. interest of the people or in public interest.
The audited accounts of the political parties Framework of ethical behaviour must include the
should be put in public domain EC reiterated this following elements: (a) Codifying ethical norms
proposal to increase transparency. and practices. (b) Disclosing personal interest to
Coalition ARC Recomn. The Constitution avoid conflict between public interest and
should be amended to ensure that if one or more personal gain. (c) Creating a mechanism for
parties in a coalition with a common programme enforcing the relevant codes. (d) Providing norms
mandated by the electorate either explicitly before for qualifying and disqualifying a public
the elections or implicitly while forming the functionary from office.
government, realign midstream with one or more Ethical standards for holders of Public Office
parties outside the coalition, then Members of that Nolan Committee in the United Kingdom. It
party or parties shall have to seek a fresh mandate outlined 7 principles of public life.
from the electorate. Selflessness Holders of public office should act
CEC Appointment Article 324 stipulates that solely in terms of the public interest. They should
CEC and other ECs are to be appointed by the not do so in order to gain financial or other
president on the advice of the Prime Minister. material benefits for themselves, their family or
ARC Recomn. Considering the importance of friends.
the CEC, to enjoy the confidence of all the parties, Integrity Holders of public office should not place
A collegium headed by the Prime Minister with the themselves under any financial or other obligation
Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Leader of Opposition to outside individuals or organizations that might
in the Lok Sabha, the Law Minister and the Deputy influence them in the performance of their official
Chairman of the Rajya Sabha as members should duties.
make recommendations for the consideration of Objectivity Holders of public office should be as
the President for appointment of the Chief open as possible about all the decisions and
Election Commissioner and the Election actions they take. They should give reasons for
Commissioners. their decisions and restrict information only when
Expediting disposal of Election Petitions They the wider public interest clearly demands.
are to be filed in High Court and should be Accountability Holders of public office are
disposed of within 6 months as per RPA. NCRWC accountable for their decisions and actions and
special election benches should be constituted in must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny
the HC exclusively for disposal of Election necessary to ensure this.
petitions. Openness Holders of public office should act and
take decisions in an open and transparent manner.
Information should not be withheld from the l) Ministers must act objectively, impartially,
public unless there are clear and lawful reasons honestly, equitably, diligently and in a fair and just
for doing so. manner.
Honesty Holders of public office should be ARC Recomn. (i) Dedicated units should be set
truthful. They have a duty to declare any private up in the offices of the Prime Minister and the
interests relating to their public duties and to take Chief Ministers to monitor the observance of the
steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that Code of Ethics and the Code of Conduct. The unit
protects the public interest. should also be empowered to receive public
complaints regarding violation of the Code of
Leadership Holders of public office should exhibit
Conduct.
these principles in their own behaviour. They
(ii) The Prime Minister or the Chief Minister
should actively promote and robustly support the
should be duty bound to ensure the observance of
principles and be willing to challenge poor the Code of Ethics and the Code of Conduct by
behaviour wherever it occurs. Ministers. This would be applicable even in the
Code of Conduct for ministers RPA provides case of coalition governments where the Ministers
for it. It is a starting point for ensuring good may belong to different parties.
conduct by Ministers. ARC Recomn. A Code of (iii) An annual report with regard to the
ethics should be there to provide guidance on how observance of these Codes should be submitted to
they should uphold the highest standards of the appropriate legislature. This report should
constitutional and ethical conduct in the include specific cases of violations, if any, and the
performance of their duties. It should include the action taken thereon; it should be put in public
following: domain.
a) Ministers must uphold the highest ethical Currently, both the houses have provided for
codes of conduct and norms for disclosure of
standards;
interest and declaration of assets and liabilities of
b) Ministers must uphold the principle of collective
their members. The committee on Ethics of both
responsibility; the LS and RS oversee the moral and ethical
c) Ministers have a duty to Parliament to account, conduct of the members.
and be held to account, for the policies, decisions Examples H G Mudgal Case in 1951 Cash for
and actions of their departments and agencies; questions case and Aaj Tak telecast regarding
d) Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or acceptance of money for asking questions in 2005.
appears to arise, between their public duties and ARC Recomn. An Office of Ethics
their private interests; Commissioner may be constituted by each House
e) Ministers in the Lok Sabha must keep separate of Parliament. This Office, functioning under the
their roles as Minister and constituency member; Speaker/Chairman, would assist the Committee
f) Ministers must not use government resources for on Ethics in the discharge of its functions, and
party or political purposes; they must accept advise Members, when required, and maintain
responsibility for decisions taken by them and not necessary records. (Similarly in states also)
merely blame it on wrong advice. Maintaining register of members interests.
Annual Report of transgression may be tabled in
g) Ministers must uphold the political impartiality of
the legislature.
the Civil Service and not ask civil servants to act in
Office of Profit (OoP): The constitution lays down
any way, which would conflict with the duties and that legislators would be disqualified, if they were
responsibilities of civil servants; to hold any OoP under the government other than
h) Ministers must comply with the requirements the office declared by the law not to disqualify its
which the two Houses of Parliament lay down holder. Why is this needed? To obviate conflict of
from time to time; interest between the duties of office and
i) Ministers must recognize that misuse of official legislative functions.
position or information is violation of the trust If the legislators are beholden to the executive, the
reposed in them as public functionaries; legislature can no longer retain its independence
j) Ministers must ensure that public moneys are and loses the ability to control the Council of
used with utmost economy and care; Ministers and the army of officials and public
k) Ministers must function in such a manner as to servants.
serve as instruments of good governance and to In countries like Britain and Germany, a political
culture has been evolved in which public office is
provide services for the betterment of the public
a means for promoting social good and not for
at large and foster socio-economic development;
private or family gain. In our case, at times public
and office is perceived to be an extension of ones
property Public offices became source of huge f) Maintenance of highest ethical standards.
corruption and means of extending patronage. g) Merit to be the criteria in selection of civil servants
There is a need to examine the definition of OoP. consistent, however, with the cultural, ethnic and
ARC Recomn. The Law should be amended to other diversities of the nation.
define office of profit based on the following h) Ensuring economy and avoidance of wastage in
principles: (i) All offices in purely advisory bodies expenditure
where the experience, insights and expertise of a i) Provision of healthy and congenial work
legislator would be inputs in governmental policy,
environment
shall not be treated as offices of profit, irrespective
of the remuneration and perks associated with j) Communication, consultation and cooperation in
such an office. performance of functions i.e. participation of all
levels of personnel in management.
(ii) All offices involving executive decision making
and control of public funds, including positions on
the governing boards of public undertakings and
statutory and non-statutory authorities directly
deciding policy or managing institutions or
authorizing or approving expenditure shall be
treated as offices of profit, and no legislator shall
hold such offices.
(iii) If a serving Minister, by virtue of office, is a
member or head of certain organizations like the
Planning Commission, where close coordination
and integration between the Council of Ministers
and the organization or authority or committee is
vital for the day-to-day functioning of government,
it shall not be treated as office of profit.
Schemes such as MPLADS and MLALADS should CoC for regulators: Decline in ethical values in
be abolished. Why? It is against the notion of the professions has adversely impacted on the
separation of powers, as legislator becomes the governance of the country and is an important
executive. Making day-to-day decisions on reason for increasing corruption in public life.
expenditure after the legislature has approved the The role of external regulators would also
budget, is a key executive function. Also, a report increase as governments functions are thrown
on MPLADS by former chairman of PAC states that open. In such cases, prescribing ethical norms for
the scheme distorted the MPs role in the federal the regulators themselves as well as for the service
system and diverted funds which should have providers would become essential.
actually gone to agencies like the Panchayati Raj ARC Recomn. A comprehensive and enforceable
institutions. Code of Conduct should be prescribed for all
Members of Parliament and Members of State professions, with statutory backing.
Legislatures should be declared as Public Ethical framework for Judiciary: Independence
Authorities under the Right to Information Act, of the judiciary is inextricably linked with judicial
except when they are discharging legislative ethics. An independent judiciary enjoying public
functions. confidence is a basic necessity of the rule of law.
Code of Ethics for Civil Servants: What we have Any conduct on the part of a judge, which
in India are several Conduct Rules, which prohibit demonstrates a lack of integrity and dignity, will
a set of common activities. These Conduct Rules do undermine the trust reposed in the judiciary by
serve a purpose, but they do not constitute a Code the citizens. The conduct of a judge should,
of Ethics. therefore, always be above reproach.
It is necessary to build safeguards to prevent SC in 1997 has come up with Restatement of
conflict of interest. Values of Judicial Life.
Public Service Values envisaged in Draft Public A judiciary independent of a king or executive
Services Bill are: alone is a good thing; but independence of the will
a) Allegiance to the various ideals enshrined in the of the nation is a solecism, at least in a republican Commented [sr1]: A breach of good manners; an
preamble to the Constitution government- Thomas Jefferson. instance of incorrect behaviour.