File property returns, CVC to Ministers, MPs

Citing the example of JMM judgement, Vittal said “it also laid down that the MPs and Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) are public servants. And the Prime Minister has already indicated in his speech that one of the first legislations for the government to take up is the Lok Pal Bill so that the rot can be checked from the top."

Emphasising the need for departmental disciplinary action against the corrupt officials, he said “the efforts made in the past to check corruption have failed precisely because the guilty under the existing system of judicial process do not generally get punished."

He said according to Berlin-based NGO Transparency International, "India is ranked 66 out of 85 countries in the Corruption Perception Index 1998 and the conviction rate is only six per cent in courts."

Vittal said he will take up the matter with the Chairman of Constitution Review Commission Justice M Venkatchaliah and suggest that "corruption-free service" should be made a fundamental right of a citizen.

"Our society has become tolerant towards corruption. And we can remove it with awareness, transparency and effective punishment," he said adding "in every organisation people who are corrupt are well-known, such corrupt public servants must be trapped with the help of CBI or police as the case may be."

There is also an urgent need for applying information technology in every citizen-public office interface so that the common citizen can have access to information that he needs, he said.

Lauding the efforts of Andhra Pradesh Government in making extensive use of information technology, Vittal said the same could be done in departments like Delhi Development Authority which deals with transfer and registration of property.

The CVC has also laid down fresh ground rules for making public the names of corrupt IAS and IPS officials on its website after facing criticism from the bureacratic circles.

"Now the names of those IPS and IAS officials will be put on the website whose inquiry is over and where at the second stage the punishment has been recommended apart from the names of those against whom prosecution has been launched," said Vittal.

"Just like a prosecution case in the court, where the names of the accused are known even though they are innocent till proved guilty, the CVC will make public the names of those who are facing departmental inquiry for a major penalty," he said.

He further added that the names on the CVC website were not of the ones who have been officially condemned by CVC or named as corrupt or rogue."This should at least silence all those critics who see putting names on the website as an attempted defamation," he said

Citing the example of UP IAS Association which some years back had determined three most corrupt officials in the cadre through secret ballot, he wondered whether it would be a good idea to ask all the service associations to have annual secret ballots to determine the ten most corrupt persons among them.