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Key Highlights A parliamentary committee has recommended that it be made mandatory for corporates to have a proper anti-graft system in place.

The bill proposes a jail term of up to seven years for any private individual, corporate or a member of the NGO who tries to bribe a public servant

NEW DELHI: Signaling a strong consensus in the political class on making corporates and non-governmental organisations more accountable for acts of corruption, a parliamentary committee has recommended making bribe giving an offence under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.

The select committee studying the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 and further amendments circulated by the government last year, has recommended that it be made mandatory for corporates to have a proper anti-graft system in place that deters their employees from indulging in corrupt practices.

As of now, the PC Act only covers a public servant accepting a bribe, not the bribe giver. Giving bribe to a public servant is covered under the provision relating to abetment. Also, there is no specific provision dealing with companies and private individuals giving bribes.

The bill proposes a jail term of up to seven years for any private individual, corporate or a member of the NGO who tries to bribe a public servant. The scope of the bill has been widened to include middlemen, directors of a company and any other private individual who is linked in the chain of payoffs.

If amendments approved by the select committee are passed by Parliament, the new act will hold "a commercial organisation liable for failure to prevent persons associated with it from bribing a public servant". In other words the firm can be held responsible for any corrupt acts of its employees.

Sources told TOI that the report of the select committee, to be tabled in Rajya Sabha on Friday, will also make it mandatory for corporates to have an anti-corruption apparatus. In other words, the onus would be on a corporate or NGO to prove to the investigation officer that it had a robust system in place to prevent corruption by its staff, failing which its senior management will be held liable for any act of bribery by its employees.

The proposed amendments enhance the minimum punishment for taking or giving bribes from six months to three years and maximum from five years to seven years.

In a departure from amendments suggested by the government last year, the select committee has opposed obtaining mandatory prior sanction from Lokpal or Lokayukta before investigating a public servant.

Sources said the consensus was in favour of obtaining sanction of Lokpal or Lokayuktas only at the prosecution stage. It was felt that sanction at investigation stage could delay probe into genuine cases of corruption.

