Govt to make changes in law to fight bribery in private sector

Stressing that the need for effective mechanisms to punish the corrupt has acquired an urgency as never before, prime minister Manmohan Singh on Friday the government is considering changes in law to make private sector bribery a criminal offence.

“We have introduced a Bill in Parliament to make bribery of foreign public officials an offence. We are considering changes in our laws to criminalize private sector bribery,” the prime minister said, while speaking at the inauguration of the 18th biennial conference of the CBI and state anti-corruption bureaux here.

The PM said that as part of efforts to reduce opportunities for corruption, the government is working on minimizing discretionary powers of public authorities. He said a group of ministers is considering the issue of a public procurement law to minimize irregularities in the award of government contracts. He was also quick to add that the distinction between “a deliberate attempt” at wrongdoing, and “honest mistakes in decision making processes,” should not be forgotten.

Singh, however, said: “Whatever we might do to minimise the opportunities for corruption, the sad reality is that we cannot build a totally fool-proof system. There will always be some instances of corrupt practices in the work of public authorities.”

The PM also emphasized on government’s “support to the CBI to ensure speedy and timely completion of investigations, to strengthen processes of prosecution and to bring reforms in the organization, wherever necessary.”—With agency inputs