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Life in times of
graft Corruption and Human
Rights in India
Rather than treating it as only a criminal malaise, Kumar has convincingly argued that the fight against corruption has to be taken as the violation of human rights. The human rights approach places the victim of corruption at the centre of anti-corruption efforts. Secondly, it emphasises the empowerment of people through the Right to Information which becomes a vital tool against corruption. Thirdly, it creates vigilant citizenary that does not take corruption as a fait accompli. Fourthly, it enjoins on the policy makers to put in place strategies for a corruption-free government for protecting human rights. It strives to promote interaction between human rights organisations, anti-corruption institutions and civil society to help courts and commissions dealing with acts of corruption. The existing machinery dealing with corruption places stress on reactive ways i.e. investigation, prosecution and conviction essential for the rule of law. The human rights-based approach works proactively in fighting corruption i.e. the institutional framework like that of Central Information Commission and the legal framework provided by the legislation on the right to information creates a new venue for asserting greater transparency ensuring greater vigilance which helps in reducing corruption. In this context, the scenario in our country is simply disgusting. Corruption has squarely seeped into the very fabric of social, bureaucratic and political activity of a nation’s life. Transparency International’s 2009 report has ranked India at 85th place, out of the 180 countries. From the Adarsh Society’s Land scam, Commonwealth Games misappropriation to 2G Spectrum, the count of scams is endless. The world sees us as one of the most corrupt nations. There is also a direct correlation between the level of corruption and human development in which we are very poor compared to least corrupt countries like New Zealand, Denmark and Finland. In the foreword of this book, Justice Iyer, apart from taking on the judiciary, observes, "During 60 years of Swaraj, corruption has been ubiquitous and universal. One of the inevitable consequences of corruption is terrorism, communism and suppression of human rights". Also, incidentally, just the other day, the highest court of the country indicting the Prime Minister’s office in the 2G Spectrum case remarked: "Today corruption in our country not only poses a grave danger to the concept of constitutional governance, it also threatens the very foundations of Indian democracy". It is a well-researched work, compares the Indian experience in combating corruption with other Asian nations, suggests new strategies to strike at the root of corruption, the book becomes a must-read for lawyers, judges, policy makers, human rights activists, researchers, and students of law, sociology and public policy. Significantly, the book is timely especially when the whole country is abuzz with sentiments against corruption, thanks to the anti-corruption crusade spearheaded by Anna Hazare.
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With
A foreword from Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, former Judge of Supreme
Court and authored by Dr. C. Raj Kumar Vice-Chancellor, O.P. Jindal
Global University, this book elaborately examines the menace of
corruption from all the angles. Corruption impedes access to justice,
deprives the deserving of their due in the economic, educational and
social areas. The author, giving altogether a new dimension to fight
the monster of corruption, notes that since Independence all attempts
by the government have failed to reduce corruption not to speak of its
elimination which denotes the government’s utter lack of political
will.