03-28-2005, 01:09 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sting where it hurts
Joginder Singh
Corruption is like garbage that collects. Unless removed daily, it makes our habitat unliveable. We are seeing garbage pile up in India, acting as the single-largest obstacle to development. A TV sting operation on March 9, showed what is known to those who have dealt with any government department. It showed 82 employees accepting bribes from businessmen and traders. The TV channel enlisted the businessmen to expose the dirt prevailing in the New Delhi Sales Tax Office.
The officials, including some women, were seen demanding and accepting bribes to issue certificates and licences. The Delhi Government must have been shocked to realise that the major chunk of revenues collected from traders was pocketed by officials. Once the scandal broke, it suspended 30 officials perhaps out of compulsion. Some noises were made about "strictest action" against "employees caught on tape". The nature of the action was not clarified.
This is neither the first nor the last sting. Tehelka had started the trend-use of technology to expose scandals-in India. Recently, even a reel villain felt the impact, turned as he was into a real life villain in a sting operation. Conversations between leading film stars and underworld dons have also been recorded.
The advent of miniaturised audio and video technology, especially pin-hole cameras, enables clandestine recording. Such equipment costs anything between $500 and $5,000 plus depending on quality, and generally has four components: A miniaturised camera, a miniature video recording device, a cord to transmit signals and a battery cell. The use of the cord can be avoided through wireless transmissions. There are various ways of hiding a camera-inside a briefcase, a pager, a cigarette lighter, a cellular telephone, a fountain pen, a smoke detector or even in the nose frame of spectacles!
Most gadgets have a self-activation or a manually operated mechanism. The briefcase camera gets activated when the briefcase is kept in a particular position.
Sting operations may be carried out by the media, NGOs, politicians, scientists, or international investigative agencies. Nowadays, sting operations worldwide are being conducted with official sanction. What purpose do they serve? If they are directed against people involved in criminal activities, it will expose them. The threat of exposure could deter a potential criminal and thus avert a criminal act. The aim is to expose anything from corruption, the drug trade, espionage, adultery, to terrorism and anti-national activity.
No laws or guidelines exist for sting operations in India. The Government's anti-corruption agencies conduct stings to nab the corrupt. Numbered, chemically treated currency notes are given to officials demanding bribes. This money is not the Government's, but the complainant's. It becomes case property during judicial processes against the accused. Providing money on Government account for stings is generally frowned upon as a means of encouraging corruption.
In the US, the FBI conducts nearly 170 operations a year, to investigate complaints of bribery, extortion, narcotics smuggling, sale of cigarettes to minors, child abuse, etc. Ground rules have been laid down over the years by departmental instructions and judicial rulings. One is that sting operations can be mounted only against persons against whom some evidence of criminality exists, and such an exercise is considered necessary for getting conclusive evidence.
Permission for stings must be obtained from appropriate courts or the Attorney-General. This safeguard has been put in place since those who organise stings may themselves commit offences of impersonation or criminal trespass under false pretexts so as to catch criminals red-handed. The complainant's identity is not revealed unless he himself makes the details of his complaint public or discloses his identity to any other office or authority.
After concealing the complainant's identity, the designated agency makes discreet inquiries to ascertain whether any basis exists for proceeding further with the complaint. For this purpose, it has to devise an appropriate machinery.
If the designated agency is of the view-either as a result of the inquiry, or on the basis of the complaint itself-that the matter requires to further probing, it has to officially seek comments/explanations from the head of the department of the concerned organisation or office. While doing so, it cannot disclose informant's identity. It must also request the concerned head of the organisation to keep this a secret if, for any reason, the latter comes to know the identity.
After obtaining the concerned organisation's response, the designated agency may feel that investigations either reveal misuse of office or substantiate allegations of corruption, it has to recommend appropriate action to the concerned government department or organisation. It could ask for appropriate proceedings to be initiated against the concerned government servant. Or it may demand appropriate administrative steps for redressing the loss caused to the government as a result of the corrupt act or misuse of office, as the case may be.
Concurrent records in writing of the various stages of a sting operation must be maintained. While transcripts of recordings can be edited, films and the tapes cannot. If there is evidence of editing, there is the automatic presumption that the recording is not authentic.
The Central Vigilance Commission, for instance, is authorised, as the designated agency, to receive written complaints or disclosures on allegations of corruption or misuse of office by any employee of the Central Government or of any corporation established by or under any Central Act, Government companies, societies or local authorities owned or controlled by the government. The disclosure or complaint must contain full particulars, accompanied by supporting documents or other materials. The designated agency may call for further information or particulars from persons making the disclosure. If the complaint is anonymous, it should not take any action in the matter.
A "whistle-blower" is a person who has knowledge of wrongdoing in high places, and alerts the authorities with the express intention of having it checked in the larger public interest. Such a definition would necessarily exclude those who leak information for the benefit of an interest group or for personal aggrandisement.
Nobody wants to bribe anybody if he or she can help it. Only the elite manage to get the services they need through influence or money. The needy-the poor or the middle classes-pay a larger proportion of their income as bribes. Hence, apart from putting bad guys in jail, it is equally important to protect victims.
Corruption reigns in departments for kerosene and rations. Shopkeepers sell controlled price items in the open market. A cut ensures that officials look the other way fake ration cards are easily available. Many food and civil supplies officials were nabbed recently selling cards. Touts can also easily get you a driving licence without a test. Rates vary. DDA procedures have also come under a cloud. Converting leasehold flat to freehold could mean shelling out at least Rs 35,000 extra for an MIG flat to touts. Why can't the DDA charge a one-time enhanced amount to curb harassment to the public? Police are also suspect. You have to pay for getting action on your complaints. Sting operations would do a lot of good to all these areas.
The Government run by a man of impeccable integrity, Mr Manmohan Singh, would naturally want to ameliorate the lot of the common man by earmarking huge funds for development. This is the time to deal with the corrupt who fleece honest tax payers. Once the Government decides to take this fight to the streets and encourages the media to participate, we may witness a sea change in the quality of services rendered to people by public servants.
Taking on political and electoral corruption-by which governments with wafer-thin majorities are formed-must also be part of the struggle. Our leadership needs to introduce a new culture of transparency and accountability. Using legalised sting operations will prove more effective than any other measure tried so far.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Joginder Singh
Corruption is like garbage that collects. Unless removed daily, it makes our habitat unliveable. We are seeing garbage pile up in India, acting as the single-largest obstacle to development. A TV sting operation on March 9, showed what is known to those who have dealt with any government department. It showed 82 employees accepting bribes from businessmen and traders. The TV channel enlisted the businessmen to expose the dirt prevailing in the New Delhi Sales Tax Office.
The officials, including some women, were seen demanding and accepting bribes to issue certificates and licences. The Delhi Government must have been shocked to realise that the major chunk of revenues collected from traders was pocketed by officials. Once the scandal broke, it suspended 30 officials perhaps out of compulsion. Some noises were made about "strictest action" against "employees caught on tape". The nature of the action was not clarified.
This is neither the first nor the last sting. Tehelka had started the trend-use of technology to expose scandals-in India. Recently, even a reel villain felt the impact, turned as he was into a real life villain in a sting operation. Conversations between leading film stars and underworld dons have also been recorded.
The advent of miniaturised audio and video technology, especially pin-hole cameras, enables clandestine recording. Such equipment costs anything between $500 and $5,000 plus depending on quality, and generally has four components: A miniaturised camera, a miniature video recording device, a cord to transmit signals and a battery cell. The use of the cord can be avoided through wireless transmissions. There are various ways of hiding a camera-inside a briefcase, a pager, a cigarette lighter, a cellular telephone, a fountain pen, a smoke detector or even in the nose frame of spectacles!
Most gadgets have a self-activation or a manually operated mechanism. The briefcase camera gets activated when the briefcase is kept in a particular position.
Sting operations may be carried out by the media, NGOs, politicians, scientists, or international investigative agencies. Nowadays, sting operations worldwide are being conducted with official sanction. What purpose do they serve? If they are directed against people involved in criminal activities, it will expose them. The threat of exposure could deter a potential criminal and thus avert a criminal act. The aim is to expose anything from corruption, the drug trade, espionage, adultery, to terrorism and anti-national activity.
No laws or guidelines exist for sting operations in India. The Government's anti-corruption agencies conduct stings to nab the corrupt. Numbered, chemically treated currency notes are given to officials demanding bribes. This money is not the Government's, but the complainant's. It becomes case property during judicial processes against the accused. Providing money on Government account for stings is generally frowned upon as a means of encouraging corruption.
In the US, the FBI conducts nearly 170 operations a year, to investigate complaints of bribery, extortion, narcotics smuggling, sale of cigarettes to minors, child abuse, etc. Ground rules have been laid down over the years by departmental instructions and judicial rulings. One is that sting operations can be mounted only against persons against whom some evidence of criminality exists, and such an exercise is considered necessary for getting conclusive evidence.
Permission for stings must be obtained from appropriate courts or the Attorney-General. This safeguard has been put in place since those who organise stings may themselves commit offences of impersonation or criminal trespass under false pretexts so as to catch criminals red-handed. The complainant's identity is not revealed unless he himself makes the details of his complaint public or discloses his identity to any other office or authority.
After concealing the complainant's identity, the designated agency makes discreet inquiries to ascertain whether any basis exists for proceeding further with the complaint. For this purpose, it has to devise an appropriate machinery.
If the designated agency is of the view-either as a result of the inquiry, or on the basis of the complaint itself-that the matter requires to further probing, it has to officially seek comments/explanations from the head of the department of the concerned organisation or office. While doing so, it cannot disclose informant's identity. It must also request the concerned head of the organisation to keep this a secret if, for any reason, the latter comes to know the identity.
After obtaining the concerned organisation's response, the designated agency may feel that investigations either reveal misuse of office or substantiate allegations of corruption, it has to recommend appropriate action to the concerned government department or organisation. It could ask for appropriate proceedings to be initiated against the concerned government servant. Or it may demand appropriate administrative steps for redressing the loss caused to the government as a result of the corrupt act or misuse of office, as the case may be.
Concurrent records in writing of the various stages of a sting operation must be maintained. While transcripts of recordings can be edited, films and the tapes cannot. If there is evidence of editing, there is the automatic presumption that the recording is not authentic.
The Central Vigilance Commission, for instance, is authorised, as the designated agency, to receive written complaints or disclosures on allegations of corruption or misuse of office by any employee of the Central Government or of any corporation established by or under any Central Act, Government companies, societies or local authorities owned or controlled by the government. The disclosure or complaint must contain full particulars, accompanied by supporting documents or other materials. The designated agency may call for further information or particulars from persons making the disclosure. If the complaint is anonymous, it should not take any action in the matter.
A "whistle-blower" is a person who has knowledge of wrongdoing in high places, and alerts the authorities with the express intention of having it checked in the larger public interest. Such a definition would necessarily exclude those who leak information for the benefit of an interest group or for personal aggrandisement.
Nobody wants to bribe anybody if he or she can help it. Only the elite manage to get the services they need through influence or money. The needy-the poor or the middle classes-pay a larger proportion of their income as bribes. Hence, apart from putting bad guys in jail, it is equally important to protect victims.
Corruption reigns in departments for kerosene and rations. Shopkeepers sell controlled price items in the open market. A cut ensures that officials look the other way fake ration cards are easily available. Many food and civil supplies officials were nabbed recently selling cards. Touts can also easily get you a driving licence without a test. Rates vary. DDA procedures have also come under a cloud. Converting leasehold flat to freehold could mean shelling out at least Rs 35,000 extra for an MIG flat to touts. Why can't the DDA charge a one-time enhanced amount to curb harassment to the public? Police are also suspect. You have to pay for getting action on your complaints. Sting operations would do a lot of good to all these areas.
The Government run by a man of impeccable integrity, Mr Manmohan Singh, would naturally want to ameliorate the lot of the common man by earmarking huge funds for development. This is the time to deal with the corrupt who fleece honest tax payers. Once the Government decides to take this fight to the streets and encourages the media to participate, we may witness a sea change in the quality of services rendered to people by public servants.
Taking on political and electoral corruption-by which governments with wafer-thin majorities are formed-must also be part of the struggle. Our leadership needs to introduce a new culture of transparency and accountability. Using legalised sting operations will prove more effective than any other measure tried so far.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->