PREFACE

The evil of corruption has been one of the major problems before the country from the
very beginning. It has found its roots from the human nature. That is why; it has been persistent
and has travelled through the times. It was present in ancient and medieval times. In this study,
all these aspects have been discussed. The evil of corruption reached at higher peaks during the
foreign rule in our country. After independence, among other things, we inherited it as a part of
our legacy.

The evil of corruption became rampant after independence because of change of power
and lack of administrative experience of political leaders; irrespective of their high moral
character. It was the era better known as “Permit-Quota-License Raj”. The steps taken by the
government proved to be insufficient as the evil of corruption got a kind of recognition with the
passage of time. The giving and receiving of kickbacks became a culture to get tenders and
permits. As a result the country had to face great economic slowdown which used to be a golden
sparrow during ancient times. In this study, the effects of corruption upon economy have been
discussed with the help of studies and data of various social and economic scientists.

As we know, the evil of corruption never gets old and is omnipresent throughout the
world; still there is hope of defeating this. The expanse and effects of this evil are not uniform.
There are various territories where it has a very less effect upon economy and society. The study
of measures taken by these countries has been very useful in this context. A detailed study of
these territories has been made to get necessary help to control this evil and a comparative
analysis has been made for this purpose.

The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 was enacted to deal with this problem as the
earlier Act and the Penal Code were proving to be ineffective with the passage of time. The Act
is a reformed legislation of earlier one and has various salient provisions. But when we compare
it with the legislation of various progressive countries; we find it to be less effective. The merits
and demerits of various provisions of the Act have been analyzed. In present research; we have
found various lacunas or loopholes within the Act. Therefore, suggestions have been made into
various relevant provisions for making it more effective and up-to-date.

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 The effectiveness of the provisions may also be enhanced by ensuring their effective
implementation. Thus, the role of enforcement or investigation agencies becomes important. The
application of the Prevention of Corruption Act with proper implementation by the investigation
agencies may provide fruitful results. The present research seeks to discuss all these aspects to
make our anti-corruption framework more effective which may, in turn, help to create a better
place to live, catering the needs of poor and down-trodden people. In this way; the harshness of
inequality may be mitigated and the noble aim of Social Justice may be achieved.

(Rahul Chhoker)

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