Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Saturday 23 December 2017

Crime and Punishment




There cannot be any punishment , unless crime gets proven



Recent example :


CBI could not “ prove through irrefutable evidence “ that A Raja and Kanimozi had committed any crime



And to be able to prosecute suspected criminals, you need evidence from every possible source


That is why the following announcement by Shri Parrikar [ CM – Goa ] assumes significance :



Goa govt launches criminal tracking system



Goa Chief Minister  Manohar Parrikar today launched Crime and Criminal Tracking and Networking System (CCTNS) in the state which will provide the police an access to the national database of history-sheeters


The initiative, a part of Union Home Ministry's  National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), was launched in presence of senior police officials on the occasion of Goa Liberation Day. 




If the Government is serious about “ bringing to books “ , perpetrators of Corruption ( White Collar Crime ? ) , then Shri Rajnath Singhji might want to take a look at my following blog / email :


 

Thursday, 3 April 2014



E - Governance ?




Can e-Governance help eliminate corruption  ?



Most certainly



Look at the following , partial list of Central and State Agencies set up to fight fraud , money-laundering , corruption , tax-evasion , economic crimes etc :




>    Public Accounts Committee           (  PAC  )


>    Central Vigilance Commission        (  CVC  )


>    Central Information Commission     (  CIC  )


>    Research and Analysis Wing           (  RAW  )


>    Serious Fraud Investigation Office   (  SFIO  )


>    Information Bureau                        (  IB   )


>    Economic Offence Wing                   (  EOW  )


>    Central Bureau of Investigation        (  CBI  )


>    Department of Revenue Intelligence (  DIR  )


>    Comptroller and Auditor General       (  CAG  )


>    Anti Corruption Bureaus ( States ).... (  ACB  )


>    Enforcement Directorate                    (  ED   )


>    Lok  Ayukts    (  States   )


>    Lok Pal           ( Central  )




Despite such an army of Agencies , how do corrupt manage to get away  ?


Or , in case caught , manage to delay delivery of punishment for years  ?


No doubt , there must be several reasons , including , inter - agency rivalry to get credit - something difficult to eliminate altogether


But , I believe , the most important reason is :



Lack of a COMMON  / COMPUTERIZED database of all offences / cases / persons being investigated


And , which is readily " Accessible " to all of these Agencies , all over the country ( 24 * 365 )




Already , every Agency compiles huge dossiers on " Suspects " in its own 
" Departmental Database " , which is never shared with other Agencies ,
leading to ,


>   Huge amount of duplication of efforts / information


>   Fractured / scattered profiles of " Suspects "


>   Enormous waste of time / resources



What will help  ?



>    Dismantling of individual departmental databases



>    Merging of all Agency-wise databases into a SINGLE / UNIQUE database



>   All Agencies to enter their findings / data / info into this COMMON
     database , with nothing preserved on local computers



>   All data-entry FORMS to be ONLINE . No paper forms at all



>   All local computers connected to ultra-secure Network ( Encrypted )



>   " Access Rights " to individuals , based on Biometric Identification





23  Dec  2017



1 comment:

  1. I was involved in some of the eGovernance projects in the year 2004-07 and 2010-2012 in Government of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab & Andhra Pradesh. I was closely associated with Lokayukta and CBI prosecution departments in Bangalore. What i could learn is there is a serious lack of legal personnel who can understand the various realms of corruption.
    Issue: Corruption essentially involves commercial transactions., whereas PC Act (Prevention of Corruption Act) in general focuses mainly on bribe, forgery, benami transaction & fraud. These are usually restricts within departmental contracts. When Corruption evolves to version 2.0 it doesn't ware a typical contractor or political broker dress, it looks glamorous & elegant. Here corruption works on creating all records perfectly well adhering to all auditing standards.
    Our Investigating officers, prosecutors nor the learned judges are so commercially savvy enough to understand where the corruption commenced, since everything appears perfect with all auditing compliance.

    The only way to mitigate this mess is to plug the hole when it is found. I mean when the IO (Investigating Officer) takes the case, he/she should be qualified enough to understand the underlying business, the competitive risks, business opportunities, commercial advantages of the alleged corruption apart from the normal fraud, benami transactions, documentary proofs and witnesses. The Anti-Corruption Offier and the prosecution should understand that the business can be corrupt, with clean audited documents from the department. The courts repeatedly acquit such cases, since none of the anti-corrupt departments have evolved to understand this.

    Most of the time it is wrongly understood that there should be amendments in the PC Act, Competition Authority Clause, Commercial Transactional laws. No, the issue is with in the initial filing of case, since the investigating officer doesn't know nor equipped to understand the complexities of today's global businesses and transactions. Education on global commerce, training with reputed international auditing consultants, understanding accounting forensics are essential for these personnel. We have never dedicated ourselves to train our officers in these fields, but we expect them to perform excellently well in decoding these complexities.

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