Election Commission rues government failure to make bribery a cognisable offence

Had the central government heard and acted on Election Commission's advice, bribing voters would have been a cognisable offence by now, attracting three years' imprisonment. Alas! It was not be, as the Congress-led UPA government chose to sit quiet on EC's strong recommendation sent as late as on February 5, 2014.

Apprehensive of play of money power during elections and having little authority to curb it, the Commission in a letter of February 5 to the union home secretary Anil Goswami had showed its unhappiness for not getting any status update to its earlier request made on October 10, 2013 to amend section 171 E of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as the first schedule of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to make bribery a cognisable offense with imprisonment up to three years.

"You are aware that the Commission has been seeking necessary amendments for quite some time and is now keen that the same is enacted before ensuing countrywide general election to Lok Sabha due to be held shortly before expiration of the term of the present house on June 1, 2014," the letter said.

Asking the government to treat the matter as urgent, the EC even suggested the home secretary that the government should bring in an Ordinance if it was not possible for it to take up the proposed amendments in the current session so that "the election machinery is not handicapped in its efforts to thwart the abuse of money power due to the inadequacy of law."

"We have been asking the government to make bribery a cognisable offense for last two years but it has failed to get things moving. Without changes in the IPC and CrPC, the EC is like toothless tiger as currently it is a bailable offense attracting only three months imprisonment," a senior EC official said.

The role money power is playing in current elections is evident from the seizure of over Rs. 80 crore by the EC in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh in the last few days.

dna tried to contact home secretary Anil Goswami for comments but could not get through. Another official on conditions of anonymity, however, said that the home ministry had prepared a cabinet note and sent it to the law ministry but it never came back.