Govt to release ‘corruption data’ against Centre, states

With the matter of jurisdiction pending in the Delhi High Court, the Delhi government is planning to mount pressure on Central government to take action against its ‘bribe seeking employees’ by periodic release of evidences collected through traps, selected recordings received by anti-corruption helpline and data received through ‘bribe calls’. Besides, the Delhi government is also planning to compile the data and recordings of other states and refer them to the concerned authorities and chief ministers for necessary action.

“The Delhi Chief Minister is within his rights to refer the cases of ‘bribe seeking officers’ to the heads of their concerned departments with notes and recommendations for stern action,” said a senior officer of Delhi government. “Can the Vice-Chairperson of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Delhi Police Commissioner ignore the complaints of the Delhi Chief Minister against ‘bribe seeking officer’? Can they ignore evidences collected by police officers deployed in Anti-Corruption Branch?” he questioned.

He further explained that these evidences, recordings and data would surely help them to mount pressure on the heads of MCD, DDA, NDMC, Delhi Police and other Central government departments to take action. The complaints received by the office of the Delhi Chief Minister against Delhi Police, MCD, DDA, NDMC etc have been referred to the heads or vigilance departments of the concerned government agencies. These data are not made public but can be obtained through the RTI. “We can’t investigate beyond our territory but have all the rights to refer those cases for action to the concerned authorities and also to the office of the Chief Minister of the concerned state with recommendation for action against the corrupts,” he added. The new helpline has invited calls from across the country against bribe seekers.

Explaining the process, the officer informed that the caller details and recordings if any, would be referred to the officers of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). A team will select the cases on the basis of merit; clarity of the recordings and suitability of the case to lay trap. “The recordings made by the complainants will act as preliminary information not the evidences,” he added.