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Vittal seeks action against public servants' benami properties

Central Vigilance Commissioner N Vittal today said he had written to the Union government to vest him with powers, under the Benami Property (prohibition) Act, 1988, to freeze benami assets of corrupt public servants even as the cases concerned are being tried .

Replying to questions after addressing the public sector PR Forum of Tamil Nadu in Madras, he said if the benami assets were not frozen, the corrupt public servants used their ill-gotten wealth to engage the best of lawyers to wriggle out of the cases or, at least, delay the trial of cases launched against them.

He also disclosed that he had suggested to Defence Minister George Fernandes that MLAs and MPs be made to declare their assets before the presiding officers concerned every year. "He has assured me that he will take up the issue with the Lok Sabha speaker," he added.

Vittal recalled that the Supreme Court had declared, in the JMM MPs' bribery case, that MLAs and MPs would have to be considered public servants. This judgment could be used to check political corruption if the elected representatives were made to declare their assets every year, he added.

Vittal regretted that, even ten years after the passing of the Benami Properties (prohibition) Act, the Union government had not stipulated so far the exact powers to be vested with the probing agencies under the act.

He said he had issued a public circular asking officials to report directly to him any corrupt activity in their respective departments which could not be immediately checked. "I am willing to do the whistle-blowing after a preliminary investigation, following which I am sure some action will be taken," he added.

Asked about the reported opposition from trade unions to his directive for computerisation of all bank branches s before March 2001, he said such a move was necessary to curb bank frauds and securities scams. "We need to link up the bank branches to ensure reconciliation of accounts," he added.

Vittal asserted that the country had the right to know the exact names of loan defaulters so that they could no longer avail loans from other financial agencies. Several banks had been looted resulting in huge non-performing assets, he pointed out.

Vittal said special courts to try corrupt officials on a daily basis was the best way of deterrence. However, this move had to go along with the freezing of the assets of the corrupt persons, he added.

He said the major reasons for corruption in bureaucracy was scarcity of goods and services, delay and red tape, lack of transparency, tribalism among the corrupt to protect fellow corrupt officials and the cushion of safety in which one was not held guilty unless otherwise proved.

He said it was imperative for the country to avoid corruption to attract foreign investment and technology in a credible manner. "The recent disasters of the South-East Asian economies have shown us what can come out of massive corruption in the financial sector," he added.

Vittal said Public Sector Units in the country would have to get prepared for the infotech revolution to ensure promotion of their firms for the onset of e-commerce. It was necessary for the PSUs to have a good public relations image, which, in any case, could not be dissociated from the quality of their products and services, he pointed out.

UNI

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