In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, from now onwards, Anti Corruption Bureau shall be functioning as per the guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). Ministry of Home Affairs has for the said purpose, repealed the Jammu and Kashmir State Vigilance Commission Act 2011. Therefore, it puts at rest any speculations about the possibility of any reorganisation of the Vigilance Commission. It may be noted that the CVC, though created in the year 1964 to tackle corruption in Government and Government Departments, its statutory strength was bestowed upon it only in the year 2003 by an Act of Parliament but its sway in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was nowhere applicable. With the abrogation of Article 370, as many as 106 central laws were deemed to be applied in Jammu and Kashmir and the latest one about the functioning of the Anti Corruption Bureau was going to take the UT further at par with other Union Territories of the country. This was much needed, to tell in plain words, to combat rampant corruption prevalent in the Government departments and other administrative institutions in Jammu and Kashmir. Tackling corruption, especially in respect of suspected Administrative Officers and HoDs etc in a substantial way was imperatively subservient to bring in the jurisdiction and the guidelines of the CVC in the functioning of the Anti Corruption Bureau of Jammu and Kashmir.
Had there been no J&K Reorganisation Act of 2019 most probably it could have not been done as smoothly as under its Section 96 which deals with the provision of adapting laws for the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. Needless to add, since the CVC is completely free from any control of any executive authority and is an Apex Vigilance Organisation, it has its own mechanism to monitor all vigilance activities , it is hoped that a greater impact will be felt in respect of the authority and the working mechanism of the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Jammu and Kashmir though the fact of the matter is that the General Administration Department in the UT Government shall continue to have the administrative control over the ACB.
The tool of vigilance is needed to be fairly used in Jammu and Kashmir so that corruption was not only contained but also prevented from getting accentuated. Could now all bureaucrats and administrative officers, as also holding gazetted positions in Jammu and Kashmir, be subjected to the overall vigil of the CVC in as much as a copy of the annual return of assets and liabilities of the officers , besides to UT General Administration Department, be mandatorily submitted to the CVC as also superannuation benefits extended, as per rules, to a retiring officer only after clearance of “no objection” was duly obtained in advance from the CVC to lend support and credence to curbing the menace of corruption ? Performing , honest and sincere officials with proven integrity would thus be motivated to contribute more so that good governance percolated at the ground levels when they felt that some powerful mechanism was duly keeping a vigil of and watch over the ones with doubtful integrity who would not get any protection or shield now any more from facing imminent action.
Since the brief of the functioning of the CVC is quite vast, it could, under the new rules applicable to the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, tender professional advice as well to the Government here in respect of how effectively the menace of corruption could be tackled . Central Prevention of Corruption Act would now have more applicability to and indulgence in the matters of corruption handled by the ACB of Jammu and Kashmir. Corruption is the bane of delays, poor performance, scams and sub-standard projects and let us have a corruption free , clean and accountable administrative apparatus.
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