Birla should fight back

Thursday’s news that anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International’s survey found that leading Indian corporates perform best among BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) with a result of 54% and that several of them occupy top positions in the overall index, coincides with paradoxical developments in India of late.

Various wings of the government – the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Economic Offences Wing, the Enforcement Directorate, the Income-Tax Department, regulators like Sebi, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, etc – have been after the selfsame leading corporates and icons of India Inc for alleged wrong-doings like bribery, corruption, so on.

I feel many so-called scandals in India involving leading corporates, both domestic and multinational, have been blown out of proportion.

For instance, the 2G telecom spectrum scandal acquired mythic proportions thanks to the alleged astronomical amount of money that was said to have been misappropriated or denied to the government coffers.

Similarly, the coal blocks allocation scandal where, again, huge figures were cited to suggest that leading corporates benefited wrongfully.

To be sure, Corporate India has its share of corrupt practices and dirty tricks. I do acknowledge that. But I feel it’s definitely not on the scale suggested by various government agencies such as the Comptroller and Auditor General and various political parties.

I, for one, feel that Kumar Mangalam Birla has been blamed in the coal blocks allocation issue totally on the basis of enquiries that have not probed in-depth the issues at stake nor unearthed any use of gratification.

A government investigation agency should not charge anyone without sufficient and conclusive evidence.

So, I strongly believe that Birla should take this coal block matter to court. Who knows, if he does knock on the doors of justice, the court concerned may well squash the FIR against him, if there is a lack of sufficient evidence to prove any wrongdoing.

The whole of Corporate India and overseas investors are now feeling a bit unsettled given that leading corporates are under various government / regulatory scanners for alleged assorted wrongdoings ranging from insider trading, fraudulent inter-corporate loans, bribery, violations of foreign direct investment regulations, amid inconclusive investigations, long-drawn interrogations and insufficient evidence.

There are concerns that the perceived witch hunts and vindictive crackdowns could demoralise both domestic and foreign corporates and affect investor sentiment, causing long-term damage to the already flailing economy. What is needed is quick resolution of issues through proper investigation and court action, if any.

Against this backdrop, findings of the Transparency International’s survey come as a breath of fresh air indeed. I totally agree with its assessment that India is the least corrupt economy among BRICS.

The world judges a country by criteria like commitment to transparency, eradication of corruption, how corporates report on their organisations and how they disclose data like revenue, expenditure and taxes, so on. Most Indian companies have taken sufficient steps to maintain transparency.

The significance of this fact becomes clear when you see that Transparency International has admonished Chinese companies for their opaque business practices while praising Indian firms’ relatively high standards, as one news report put it.

The writer is a Vice-President of the Bangalore Political Action Committee