Himachal Pradesh passes bill to control corruption

Shimla, Aug 31: Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, August 30, became third state after Madhya Pradesh and Bihar to pass a strong legislation that allows the state government to seize the assets of corrupt administrators and use it as a public property.

The Himachal Pradesh special courts (Attachment and Confiscation of property) Bill, 2011, passed in the state assembly demands for the setting up of special courts to emplace the trial and eventually allow the government to seize the corrupt property.

Chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said, “The laws enacted in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar were studied and improvised to make it more practical and judicious for tackling the problem of corruption in Himachal Pradesh."

The property of the administrator, charged with corruption would be attached in the initial stage but its disposal/auction will be done only after the case is finally disposed off.

The bill which was tabled in the assembly on Monday, August 29, received cent percent support from Congress Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and he urged the MLAs to deliver a message about the government's united determination to root out the corruption.

Earlier, the Congress MLAs supporting the Bill had urged for referring the same to select the committee of the House for detailed discussions. They had said the law required more debate to tie some loose ends.

Highlighting some doubts, the Opposition members said that the investigations by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau are getting delayed and also granting of persecution sanctions by the government are excessively delayed.

OneIndia News