{"id":83814,"date":"2026-09-04T18:20:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T12:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=83814"},"modified":"2026-09-04T18:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T12:51:11","slug":"strengthening-india-fight-against-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/04-09-2026\/strengthening-india-fight-against-corruption","title":{"rendered":"Strengthening India&#8217;s Fight Against Corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) highlighted delays in the disposal of corruption cases investigated by the <strong>Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)<\/strong>, with 7,229 cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, pending trial as of December 31, 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), 1988<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988,<\/strong> is India&#8217;s primary legislative framework designed to combat corruption, bribery, and misuse of office by public servants.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Act was significantly amended by the <strong>Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018<\/strong>, which strengthened provisions relating to bribery and commercial organisations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Provisions of the PCA<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Section 2: <\/strong>The Act defines &#8220;undue advantage&#8221; broadly as any gratification other than legal remuneration, and the term is not limited to monetary or pecuniary benefits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Section 3 and Section 4: <\/strong>The Act empowers the Central and State governments to appoint Special Judges for trying offences punishable under the Act.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Section 7A <\/strong>penalises a person who accepts or obtains an undue advantage to influence a public servant through corrupt or illegal means or through the exercise of personal influence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Section 9<\/strong> provides for the liability of a commercial organisation where a person associated with it gives or promises an undue advantage to obtain or retain business or a business advantage.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Section 10 <\/strong>provides for the liability of persons who were in charge of, and responsible for, the conduct of the business of such commercial organisations in specified circumstances.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Section 13 <\/strong>defines criminal misconduct by a public servant, including dishonest or fraudulent misappropriation of property entrusted to the public servant.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It also covers a situation in which a public servant intentionally enriches himself or herself illicitly during the period of office.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Section 18A <\/strong>applies provisions relating to the attachment and forfeiture of property to corruption cases under the Act, enabling action against property believed to have been acquired through corrupt practices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reasons for Corruption in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Administrative Complexity: <\/strong>Excessive discretionary powers, complex procedures and multiple layers of approvals create opportunities for public officials to demand illegal gratification.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lack of Transparency: <\/strong>Limited transparency in public procurement, licensing, land administration and allocation of public resources make corrupt practices difficult to detect.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Delays in Investigation:<\/strong> Prolonged investigations and trials reduce the certainty and immediacy of punishment, thereby weakening the deterrent effect of anti-corruption laws.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Political Interference:<\/strong> Undue influence over investigations, appointments and transfers weaken the independence and effectiveness of institutions responsible for ensuring accountability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Social Acceptance: <\/strong>The normalisation of small bribes for accessing routine public services creates an environment in which corruption is seen as an informal means of overcoming administrative delays.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lack of Whistle-blower Protection:<\/strong> Individuals hesitate to report corruption because of fear of professional retaliation, harassment or threats.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Steps Taken by India to Combat Corruption<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Prevention of Corruption Act<\/strong> was amended in <strong>2018<\/strong> to <strong>criminalise the giving of bribes <\/strong>and to create liability for commercial organisations involved in bribery.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthening of Anti-Corruption Institutions:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Central Vigilance Commission <\/strong>acts as an apex vigilance institution and follows a strategy involving punitive, preventive and participative vigilance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Lokpal<\/strong> has been operationalised to receive and process complaints relating to alleged offences by public servants under the Prevention of Corruption Act.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The CBI<\/strong> plays an important role in investigating serious corruption and economic offences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digitalisation of Government Services: <\/strong>Digital platforms improve transparency, create audit trails and reduce opportunities for discretionary decision-making.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system<\/strong> has been used to transfer welfare benefits directly to beneficiaries, thereby reducing intermediaries and opportunities for leakages and corruption.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Transparent Public Procurement:<\/strong> The use of e-tendering and the <strong>Government e-Marketplace (GeM)<\/strong> has increased transparency and standardisation in public procurement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Time-bound Investigation: <\/strong>Corruption cases should be investigated and tried within clearly defined timelines along with adequately staffed special courts dealing with corruption and economic offences.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Investigative Independence:<\/strong> Investigative and vigilance institutions should have adequate functional autonomy to conduct professional and impartial investigations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Whistle-blower Protection:<\/strong> Effective legal and institutional protection should be provided to individuals who report corruption in good faith.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Technology-based Vigilance: <\/strong>Greater use of data analytics, artificial intelligence, digital audit trails and financial forensics can help identify unusual transactions and high-risk areas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ethical Governance:<\/strong> Anti-corruption measures should also emphasise integrity, public service values, accountability and ethical leadership.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/cbi-investigations-corruption-cases-pending-trials-central-vigilance-commission-report\/article71415055.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong><br \/>\nContext<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">\n<p>The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) highlighted delays in the disposal of corruption cases investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), with 7,229 cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, pending trial as of December 31, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\nAbout the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), 1988<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"\t>\nThe Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, is India&#8217;s primary legislative framework designed to combat corruption, bribery, and misuse of office by public servants.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">\nThe Act was significantly amended by the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, which strengthened provisions relating to bribery and commercial organisations.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/04-09-2026\/strengthening-india-fight-against-corruption \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83814"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83816,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83814\/revisions\/83816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}