Accountability Commission

A historic judgment has come from the Division Bench of the State High Court that endorses powers of the State Accountability Commission to initiate suo moto cases. The judgment came while the Division Bench was hearing an appeal against the decision of the Writ Court which had said that the Act of 2002 did not provide for the Accountability Commission to take up suo moto case against any public functionary.
The Division Bench took a view very different from that of the lower court and categorically stated that the Accountability Commission has powers to take up suo moto cases on the basis of the spirit of the Act. From the view point of a lay man, we can say that there is much substance in the logic behind the enactment of the State Accountability Act of 2002 by virtue of which the State Accountability Commission has been constituted. The logic is that society in a democratic state has right to a corruption-free administration. Experience has shown that to have corruption-free governance, certain measures and mechanisms need to be in place. Human beings are not angels without weaknesses. In practical life, human beings are fallible and corruptible. Therefore the Act has to be interpreted from that standpoint. DB has stated that when we want an administration without corruption, we need to reach the complaints and criticisms as part of providing clean administration.
The second argument put forth by the Division Bench deals with clarification of the status of the Accountability Commission. The Bench has very rightly remarked that the Accountability Commission, in its composition, is different from other Commissions. The difference lies in that the Chairperson/Member of the Accountability Commission is not an ordinary person; he is a senior judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court with huge experience and enviable service record. He is one in whom the constitutional authority places its trust.  As such, the DB asserts that SAC is superior authority akin to a constitutional authority. In other words it means that the Accountability Commission has powers to initiate suo-moto proceedings.
Put in simple idiom, this very important and historic debate is about providing corruption-free administration to the civil society. Unfortunately, the culture of corruption is rampant in administration. It is so because firstly there are not adequate laws to bring a corrupt functionary to book and secondly even if there are laws, accomplices in corruption want to shield a corrupt functionary by hook or by crook even by subverting the laws. The courts of law have often said that there is inadequacy of laws governing punitive action against the corrupt. People feeling injustice has been done to them make complaints to the concerned authorities but nobody heeds them and thus injustice is perpetrated. It is seen that administration is reluctant to see public functionaries booked for act of omission and commission.
The judgment is memorable. It has brought big relief to the people of the State in general and the victims of corruption in particular. For two explicit performances the Accountability Commission assumes extraordinary significance. One is that now it can initiate suo moto case against the public functionaries of alleged corruption including anonymous complaints. The second is that it can bring even the Chief Minister and any other Minister in the Council of Ministers under its jurisdiction of prevention of corruption and corrupt practices. The judgment has elevated the Commission almost to the level of constitutional authority and not just statutory authority. In its composition and term of reference, and essentially in the backdrop of the philosophy of enacting the Act of 2002, the Accountability Commission assumes unique position capable of enforcing measures and mechanisms that would guarantee corruption free administration. We hail the historic judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court. At the same time, now that the Accountability Commission is armed with requisite powers, it will move in a big way to stem the tide of corruption in our State. We have had enough of shady tricks of shielding the corrupt functionaries and now we want a clean and trustworthy administration in the State.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here