INDIA BATTLING OVER THE CORRUPTION: BJP REGIME?

-

Come up, young ones of the bird of Paradise, before your feet touch the cesspool of corruption, this world, and fly upwards.
                                                                                       - Swami Vivekananda
I. INTRODUCTION
Long years ago we made a tryst with corruption just after the stroke of midnight hour when V.K. Krishna Menon was entangled in the allegation of discarding the requisite procedure to import 200 Army Jeep (Jeep Scandal of 1948). That time, Nehru’s clean chit in 1955 ceased the issue without pioneering a judicial inquiry. Most interestingly, in 1959 V.K. Krishna Menon was inducted as a Defense Minister in the regime of Nehru. Ostensibly, the chain of momentous political scam has festered corruption from Mudgal Case (1951) to the most recent Coal Scam and National Herald. Much the same and above that, bureaucracy too infected by slew of individual aberrations.
When we look at the electrifying action taken against folklore of corruptions in history, dubious LIC-Mundhra deal, worth `12 million was exposed in detail by Feroze Gandhi in Lok Sabha (1957). A few years later in 1974, Jaya Prakash Narayan revolutionized student movement against Indira Gandhi’s authoritarian rule and corruption by pondering his idea of Sampoorna Kranti (Complete Revolution). The igniting series of ramification done by these two eminent personalities in Indian politics has been unfortunately entirely dis-remembered by the masses. The author would urge the people of this country to inculcate the nifty Gandhian ideas to fight against the corrupt notoriety to cast aside our country from the grasps of such evil rather than put up with corruption that is rampant.

II. FIGHTING CORRUPTION AND BLACK MONEY: GOVERNMENT ON ITS PINNACLE?

The crusade to curb the widespread corruption and black money with citizen collaboration is the topmost priority of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (hereinafter ‘Pradhan Sewak’). In hectoring speech during BJP’s National Executive meet, Pradhan Sewak said, my battle against corruption will be uncompromising. Anybody caught in this cannot escape. I have no relatives. Though the first such initiative to curtain menace broach in his first Cabinet meeting which ensue in constituting a Supreme Court supervised Special Investigation Team (under Justice MB Shah).
There are amid concerns regarding tax evasion, 2 crore (2015) took off overseas for business/tourism than 24 lakh who declared income more than `10 lakh (FY 2015-16). Pradhan Sewak adverted to the expectations and aspiration of the licit taxpayers to extirpate income that has been illegally accrued or not declared to the taxman. Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS), 2016 has been formulated for domestic black money holder. IDS yielded a decent disclosure of `65,250 crore of black money. Further, to ascertain audit trail when cash transaction on purchases exceed `2 lakh, government has taken measures in two fold i.e., (i) Linking biometric identity number (ii) Tax Collection at Source at a nominal rate of 1%. This will assist in crusading against tax evaders. The re-negotiation of the Mauritius, Cyprus and Singapore DTAA is certainly a decisive move by the Indian Government which is to plug tax leakage controversy around the tax treaty.
The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 was introduced to bring back the black money stash away outside India. The Act also penalizes the concealment of foreign income. Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 gave more effective regime to authorities to cut back benami transaction. Finance Act, 2015 amended FEMA, 1999 which confiscate and seize person’s property of value equivalent in India if that person is found to acquire illegitimate foreign exchange/immovable property outside India. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 dislodged the balance of power emphatically shifting from tycoons to lenders. Switzerland signed a treaty to provide real-time information of Swiss bank accounts of Indian from September 2019.
The biggest achievement of this government was yet to come until 8th November, 2016. At that day our Pradhan Sewak announced that `1000 and `500 notes would cease to be a legal tender. Demonetising high-value currency note was a cardinal structural reform that has rendered immense progression in the fight against black money and corruption. As already stated by our Pradhan Sewak in his ‘Demonetisation-A Historic and Multi-Dimensional Success which reveals staggering data such as ‘17.73 lakh cases where cash transaction did not match tax profile’, 0.00011% of India’s population deposited almost 33% of total cash in the country’, 2.24 lakh shell companies struck off and 35000 companies caught transaction `17,000 Crore after demonetization. Further, tax-base has been widened to 6.26 crore (FY 2017-18) from 4 crore (FY 2016-17). I would argue that Pradhan Sewak widespread support can be construed by the 58% growth of digital transaction that made our country less reliant on cash whereby, less corruption by way of cleaner and transparent economy.
Towards this end, a nationwide Goods and Services Tax which made indirect tax evasion inconceivable, as with regards to input tax credit the dealer has to upload the invoice for the next in chain to claim it. In three years BJP government has established a visionary statement against corruption and black money. Ever Since BJP government took over in May, 2014 it has not faced a single corruption charge and has taken a number of significant measures as mentioned in this essay to curb the menace of the black money and corruption.


III. WHAT’S NEXT?
Digitalising India is a coercive measure towards ascertaining accountability and transparency in all sectors. UMANG App allows citizens to access e-governance measure, schemes, policies, and services on a unified platform. In the App, My Grievance (CPGRAMS), is a service in which person can lodge a grievance w.r.t. Government Department/Ministry/State Government. The government should include separate “corruption complaint” as one of the sub-heads under the Lodge Grievance to give more emphasis to corruption. This App should also reach every non-supported smartphone users via USSD in featured phones, it would by all odds have an enormously positive impact. The complaint resolution process should be fast and efficient ensue quick resolution of the problems. Enhanced endeavors and awareness are needed to get more significant information into the hands of public about UMANG APP. Further, I would like to suggest the notion of www.ipaidbribe.com which attempts to discover a specific anti-corruption solution that exscinds the opportunities for possible corruption. This mechanism should be given grandness for curbing the menace of corruption. For instance, replacing corrupt test examiners in Bangalore with a simulator.
Swami Vivekananda once said, “All power is within you; you can do anything and everything…. Stand up and express the divinity within you”, as corruption cannot be only uprooted by government thence youth of this country can be the torchbearers to eradicate corruption and ‘chai pani’ regime.

(For any further information be my guest at lawyer.akt@gmail.com)


- Abhishek K Tripathi
  Advocate

Popular posts from this blog

STEP BY STEP ARBITRATION PROCEDURE- STAGES OF ARBITRATION - LAW AND PRACTICE OF ARBITRATION

-
Image
STAGES OF ARBITRATION - STEP BY STEP PROCEDURE The arbitration proceeding will only begin when the parties to the contract agree to settle all/ certain existing/future dispute through arbitration. Arbitration is a process of resolving all/certain existing/future disputes before independent and impartial individual(s), who serves as an arbitrator(s). The arbitration/ arbitral proceedings begin when the notice to arbitrate or arbitration notice is delivered to the opponent, which is sent by the claimant. Section 21 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter 'Arbitration Act') states the ' Commencement of arbitral proceedings ' as ' Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the arbitral proceedings in respect of a particular dispute commence on the date on which a request for that dispute to be referred to arbitration is received by the respondent '. [See Y. Parthsarthy v. G.M., Railways Electrification, Allahabad, 1997 (2) Arb LR 347 ;
Read more

A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF APPOINTMENT OF ARBITRATOR: SECTION 11 OF ARBITRATION ACT

-
Image
I. INTRODUCTION The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter 'Arbitration Act') confer absolute authority to the parties to determine the procedure for appointing the arbitrator/arbitrators. In the event of default, 'the Supreme Court or, as the case may be, the High Court or any person or institution designated by such Court will come into play. In 2015, the parliament has amended and transferred the power u/s. 11 from Chief Justice of India and Chief Justice of High Court to Supreme Court and High Court respectively. This entire process of appointment of arbitrator/arbitrator, either by parties or by court comes under the purview of Section 11 of the Arbitration Act. SECTION 11. APPOINTMENT OF ARBITRATOR _______________________________ 1 The court u/s. 11 means Supreme Court for International Commercial Arbitration and the High Court for Domestic Arbitration. II. APPOINTMENT OF ARBITRATOR BY PARTIES Sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 11 grants free
Read more

SETTING ASIDE AN ARBITRAL AWARD IN INDIA UNDER SECTION 34 OF THE ARBITRATION ACT

-
Image
I. INTRODUCTION The very essence of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter ‘Arbitration Act’), is to boil down the supervisory role of courts in the arbitral process. The Arbitration Act intended to reduce the scope of judicial interference with an arbitral award as well. The ambit of courts power is merely restricted to set aside the arbitral award on certain grounds specified in the Arbitration Act. It is blasphemous to use other enactments or rules to set aside the arbitral award. The court cannot act as an appellate authority over and above interfere on merits of an arbitral award (except ‘public policy’ issues). The arbitral award can ‘only’ be set aside by filing an application for setting aside the arbitral award in accordance with sub-sections (2), (2A) and (3) of Section 34 of the Arbitration Act. The application of setting aside arbitral award (including interim award) is dealt in chapter VII of the Arbitration Act under the head ‘Recourse Against Arbitral A
Read more