Raje to wield the shield for honest babus, zero tolerance for corruption

Amidst the furrow created by the Ordinance by the Rajasthan government that gives immunity to judges, magistrates and public servants regarding cases being lodged against them for acts done by them while in service, the government has clarified its stand and said that it has a zero tolerance towards corruption. It has said the Ordinance is to protect the honest public servants as almost three fourth of the cases filed against them through courts turn out to be malicious. Meanwhile the opposition has declared that it would oppose the Ordinance in the assembly and civil society has demanded that the government repeal the Ordinance and not pass it as a Bill.   
 
Rajasthan government in a written statement issued on Saturday has clarified that the new ordinance titled Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 would not provide any protection to the corrupt public servants. It has said that the government is committed to its stand of zero tolerance towards corruption.   
 
The government through this official release said that Rajasthan is not the first state to bring such an ordinance; the Maharastha assembly had brought such an amendment on 23 December 2015 and the purpose behind this amendment is to prevent harassment and ensure that the image of honest officers is not tarnished.
 
It has further said that the ordinance does not mean that cases would not be registered against corrupt officials in  the police stations. The 180 days period is for the police to investigate and confirm whether the case is worth being registered.
 
It said that records tell that in as many as 73% cases filed through the court under 156 (3) it was found after investigation that the alleged incidents did not take place. There are cases where the address of the complainant was false or there was no evidence. The government went on to say that once a case is filed, it is covered in media and identity of the concerned person and his family is divulged. The stigma stays with the public servant even after it is found that the case is false.
 
The government has also said in its release that the Supreme Court has also made scathing observations about the issue in several cases and said that the system needs to be improved.
 
The government also informed that it has registered 1158 cases, out of these 818 public servants have been trapped. Rajasthan is among the rare states where three senior administrative officers, two in service and one retired, have gone to jail on charges of corruption. It went on to add that there have been no amendments in the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.       

What is the ordinance --

An ordinance by the Rajasthan government will prevent cases being lodged against officers and judges for any act done by them while they were in service. The ordinance also prevents courts from issuing directions to register cases against them. Further the ordinance prevents that the names or pictures of the persons to be made public.

The Ordinance was implemented on September 7 and is likely to come up for discussion in the coming assembly session beginning on Monday to take the form of a Bill.    
  
The ordinance titled Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 is an Amendment in the section 156 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and provides that “no magistrate shall order an investigation against a person who is or was a judge or magistrate or a public servant, as defined under any other law for the time being in force, in respect to the act done by them while purpoting or act in the discharge of their official duties, except with previous sanction under the section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Act No 2 of 1974) or under any other law for the time being in force”

As per the provisions of the Ordinance the sanctioning authority shall take a decision on the sanction of prosecution within 180 days, in case the sanctioning authority fails to do so, automatic prosecution shall deemed to have been issued.

It provides that no one shall print, publish or publicize the name address identity photograph or any other details or particulars of the judge, magistrate or public servant that can lead to the disclosure of his identity.  It further provides that anyone who violates the above provisions of the ordinance could be fined and / or imprisoned up to two years.

What they say ---

Opposition --

Ashok Gehlot -- Former CM -- Rajasthan BJP government is acting autocratically by making arbitary changes to the CrPC.It is taking all steps to prepare ground for encouraging corruption and to keep people in the dark about it.

Leader of opposition - Rameshwar Dudi -- The opposition will raise its voice against this ordinance in the assembly during the monsoon session. It violates the spirit of Constitution, provides advantage to the corrupt and is a gag on the media.
 
Legal experts -- A K Jain - Advocate -- Victims’ identity should be protected not the accused. The government is protecting its officials and public servants that includes MLAs and MPs too. I will challenge it in court.    
 
Civil Society -- Kavita Shrivastav, national secretary PUCL --  We condem the Vasundhara Raje government for bringing the ordinance that amends the CrPC and IPC and introduces secttions that clips the powers of the magistrate to order investigation, take cognisance of complaints against public servants.    We want to know what the government is trying to hide and demand that the the Ordinance be repealed and not passed as a Bill.