This explainer discusses the anti-corruption law and punishments for corrupt public servants. It primarily deals with the law laid out in the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988.
Who is a Public Servant?
A public servant is someone who:
Works for the government
Gets a salary from the government
Does work that is a public duty
A person can also be considered a public servant if they are:
Working for and are being paid by a local authority like a municipality or panchayat.
Employed in educational or cultural institutes which get money from the central, state, or local government (like the panchayat).
A cooperative society engaged in agriculture, industry, trade, or banking, and the co-operative society is receiving money from:
the government, or
a company created by laws passed by the government, or
a company that is owned or controlled by the government or aided by the government, or
a company in which the government is the majority shareholder.
Employed by and being paid by:
a company established under central or state laws (for example, the Life Insurance Corporation), or
a company that is aided by, owned, or controlled by the government, or
a company where the government is the majority shareholder (for example, Air India Limited).
Public Servants Accepting Bribes
Corruption is the abuse of power by people in power for their own gain in a dishonest or unethical way. In India, it is illegal for public servants to accept money/gifts over and above their salary, in return for doing their duty, favoring a person or for not doing their duty. Any person helping the public servant commit these crimes can also be punished.
Public servants in India are not allowed to:
Accept money/gifts other than the salary provided as part of their job;
Ask for or get money/gifts, in addition to their salary, in return for doing their official duty;
Ask for or get money/gifts, in addition to their salary, in return for not doing their official duty;
Be partial to someone who has paid them money or give them gifts;
Do any special favours for someone who has offered them money or gifts;
You can be sent to jail for a period of 3 to 7 years and be asked to pay a fine for doing any of the above.
A public servant breaks the law by accepting any gift or benefit, not just money. You are breaking the law if you, as a public servant, accept something of value from a person without paying for the gift/service and with whom you have a business or official relationship. You can be sent to jail for a period of 6 months to 5 years and may also have to pay a fine.
Example: You are a public servant working in the Public Works Department and are in charge of approving tenders for road construction. You accept a car from Ravi without paying him any money. You know that his company will apply to your department for approval of a contract to build a highway. If Ravi is given the approval, accepting the car would be considered as accepting a bribe.
Influencing Public Servants to Commit Crimes
You are breaking the law if you as a public servant help someone commit the crime of influencing public servants. It does not matter that the public servant did not actually act on the influence exerted on him/her. The mere fact of the influence is a crime. You can be sent to jail for a period of 3 years to 7 years along with a fine.
Example: If I, as a District Magistrate, influence the Chief Engineer to favour a friend in a road construction tender, whether my friend gets the tender doesn’t matter, the magistrate can still be punished for just the influencing part.
Stealing or Selling Property by a Public Servant
When a public servant steals or gets someone to steal or sell any property given to them as part of their official work, they can be punished for “criminal misconduct.” The punishment for this offence is jail time between 4 and 10 years along with a fine.
Helping a Public Servant Commit a Crime
You are breaking the law if you help, suggest, or encourage a public servant to commit the crime of accepting money or gifts in addition to their salary or property from business associates, even if the crime was not successfully committed. Under the Act, aiding an offense constitutes a crime in and of itself. In this instance, it makes no difference if the offense was committed because of the abetment. You can be sent to jail for a period of 3 to 7 years and will also have to pay a fine.
Example: Rajesh, Ravi’s cousin offers Mukesh (a public servant) a new house in return for appointing Ravi to the post of junior Railway officer. Even if Ravi does not get the post, Rajesh has “abetted” or helped Mukesh break the law.
Earlier, according to Section 24 of the Act, the person giving the bribe was immune from prosecution and their confession did not subject them to further prosecution. However, this was omitted by the 2018 Amendment Act. Currently, section 8 of the Amendment Act provides for a fine or jail time of up to seven years or both. However, if a person was forced to give any sort of bribe or undue advantage and reported the same to law enforcement or an investigating body within seven days of giving the bribe, the provisions of section 8 don’t apply to them.