Current Affairs: Rajya Sabha referred a bill to amend the Anti-Corruption Act of 1988 to a Select Committee, which provides for enhancing penalty for graft to a maximum of seven years from the present five years.
The 23-member Committee will be headed by Anil Madhav Dave of BJP. It has been asked to present the report by the last day of the first week of next session of Parliament.
The panel will also include Chandran Mitra, Bhupendra Yadav (BJP), Mani Shankar Aiyar, Shantakumar Naik, Bhubaneswar Kalita (Congress), Naresh Agarwal (SP), KC Tyagi (JD-U), Sukhendu Shekhar Roy (Trinamool), Navneet Krisnha (AIADMK), Satish Mishra (BSP), KN Balagopal (CPI-M), Praful Patel (NCP), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena), D Raja (CPI), Ramdas Athawal (RPI-A)and Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Independent).
The Union Cabinet had on April 29 approved official amendments to the Act, providing for more stringent punishment for bribery – both for the bribe giver and the bribe taker.
The Bill was introduced in the House on December 1 and it was moved for consideration on December 3 when members raised objections over certain clauses in it, arguing that these overlap with the provisions of the Lokpal Act and more clarity was needed on these.
A resolution to refer the bill to the Committee was moved by Minister for Personnel Jitendra Singh and it was adopted by voice vote.
Main Features:
The Bill, pending before the Rajya Sabha for long, provides for more stringent punishment for the offences of bribery, both for the bribe giver and the bribe taker by amending the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
It seeks to enhance penalty for graft to a maximum of seven years from five years now, among other new provisions to check the menace.
The Amendment provides for speedy disposal of corruption-related cases by providing that trial be completed with 2 years.
It proposes to extend the protection of prior sanction from prosecution to public servants who cease to hold office after retirement or resignation.
