The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said the "overkill" by various institutions, such as the courts or the investigative agencies have hampered the growth process in the country and stressed upon the need to revisit certain provisions of the anti-corruption law.
"The overkill coming from various institutions has certainly not helped the growth in the country," Jaitley said addressing the DP Kohli Memorial Lecture. The annual function is organised in the memory of D P Kohli, the founder director of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Jaitley said this while referring to the CBI investigations which are monitored by the courts. The Supreme Court has monitored the CBI's investigation into the allocation of coal blocks and 2G spectrums. The SC has also set up a special CBI court to try all the alleged coal scam and 2G scam cases.
He said the judiciary started monitoring certain cases when it felt that these are not being probed appropriately. However, soon this "rare exception turned into "a routine" practice which "squeezed" the discretionary powers of the investigators and put him on the defensive.
As a result, he pointed out; the decision-making in the government has been hindered and restrained to a "pass the parcel game" wherein government officials fear giving their stamp on policy decisions.
"We were earlier told that investigation is a police's function and courts do not interfere. Today courts supervise investigations. The question of court supervising investigations puts the investigator on the defensive. He then follows the golden rule that if I submit a report (saying) the accused is prima facie not guilty, questions are going to be raised about it and therefore, the golden rule is that I must somehow make the case and it's good luck of the accused to get a fair trial. This process has actually hindered the whole process of economic decision making," said Jaitley.
"This whole process prepares civil servants and decision makers where decision making becomes a pass the parcel game. (As a result) rather than I taking the decision, I put a non-committal role and allow the file to move so that the ultimate decision is not taken by me," said Jaitley.
Highlighting another key concern, Jaitley said, the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 (a legislation under which CBI conducts most of its inquiry or investigations) fails to capture the distinction between an act of corruption and an honest error by the government officials.
"Economic decision-making may be trial and error. It may also involve an element of risk-taking. Thus, the Act (should) adequately distinguish between an act of corruption and an act where a decision-maker makes an honest error," said Jaitley.
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