Ranchi, April 28: The state government proposes to set up special courts with powers to confiscate properties of public servants being investigated for corruption, a move similar to that of Bihar where chief minister Nitish Kumar has used several such seized buildings to set up schools.
Chief minister Arjun Munda gave his consent today to a draft of the Jharkhand Special Courts Ordinance 2012, which would ensure confiscation of properties (beyond known sources of income) of ministers, MLAs and bureaucrats against who cases of corruption were being pursued by agencies like the state vigilance bureau.
The draft has been sent to Raj Bhavan for the Governor's approval in anticipation of a state cabinet nod. Chief minister's principal secretary D.K. Tiwary said the ordinance would help usher in a corruption-free era in the state.
Munda, who had on previous occasions hinted to The Telegraph of such a move, seems to have fast tracked the measure in an effort to revive ' albeit to an extent ' the image of the state that has always scored low in terms of a clean public life, but has now taken another severe beating after the countermanding of the March 30 Rajya Sabha polls. After the promulgation of the ordinance, the state government would need to file an application informing special courts about its intent to confiscate properties, allegedly amassed by using ill-gotten wealth, of public servants till the final disposal of corruption cases against them.
A special court would, in turn, send a notice to the concerned public servant, and after completing some more formalities, the state would be able to seize such properties.
With this move, the Arjun Munda government is initiating baby steps to undo years of damage suffered by Jharkhand that now has a former chief minister (Madhu Koda), some of his former cabinet colleagues (Anosh Ekka and Harinarayan Rai) and a couple of senior IAS officers fighting corruption cases from Birsa Munda Central Jail.
According to a government source, the need for setting up special courts was felt because of the inordinately long time usual courts took to dispose of cases under Anti Corruption Act, 1988. Also, there have been several occasions when public servants, who have been facing trial, were able to sell their property even before the final disposal of cases against them.
"The number of corruption cases in Jharkhand is huge, so special courts would assist the main courts by way of ordering confiscation of ill-gotten property of public servants," another senior official said.
It is better late than never. Following Koda's arrest and Shibu Soren's sacking from the union cabinet because of murder charges, Jharkhand was branded as one of the more corrupt states of India. Arjun Munda in his earlier stint as the second chief minister of the newly created Jharkhand state could not do much as he resigned rather than be blackmailed by independent legislators. Successive governments in Jharkhand have gone from bad to worse and it touched the nadir with the reign of Congress supported Madhu Koda. Let us hope now it starts a new chapter with this step of Arjun Munda. Let us also hope, other states also follow the same example and pass such laws / ordinances.
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