World Bank View :

The negative impact of the phenomenon of corruption is now being recognised by international bodies like the World Bank who have realised that good corporate governance is necessary in the context of globalisation. Good governance cannot follow unless there is a check on corruption. This new fundamental right therefore should be taken as the crystallisation of experience definitely of the last century which has seen greater interaction among the various nations and the evolution of certain universal principles like the universal principles relating to human rights.

It is obvious that corruption, which is the use of public office for private profit can never go along with good governance. In other words, corruption totally distorts the machinery of government namely, the executive and makes a mockery of the human right for good governance. If the public servant because he is occupying an office controls the lever of power, which he can utilise for exploiting the citizen and enrich himself, should there not be a right on the part of the citizen to see that he is not exploited by the corrupt public servant? After all, a fundamental right like double jeopardy is only articulating the principle that the state which has the power for punishment will not use that power to punish a person more than once for an offence. Basically the fundamental right should be seen as a right given to the citizen to ensure that he has a level playing field so far as his interaction with the state which has all the power is concerned.

There is an argument that other countries do not have this fundamental right in their constitution. The countries with which we may be comparing ourselves are of two types. They may be countries, which are developed like United States or Britain which, thanks to years of evolution, are having much less corrupt governments. So far as the common citizen in these countries is concerned, at least, he does not have to face the problem of corruption at every stage when he interacts with public office. In India, this is not the position. Therefore, the Indian citizen has to be protected by getting this additional right. The other type of countries are those which are less developed than India or more corrupt than India. The point is, if these countries do not have such a fundamental right, should we also emulate them and sink deeper into the morass of corruption and bad governance? I am sure, any sensible Indian would agree that it is better that we realise the corrosive effect of corruption which is anti-national, anti-poor and anti-economic development and strengthen the fundamental structure of good governance by including this right in the fundamental rights chapter.

The next question that is raised is how will this fundamental right be different from other issues like a fundamental right for breathing or fundamental right for housing which one of the former Prime Ministers is now raising? This fundamental right of corruption free service is different because in absence of this right, all the other rights, which have been conferred on the citizen become meaningless. Take for example Article 14 of the Constitution confers on the citizen gives the fundamental right of equality before law and equal protection of law. If a citizen is interacting with a corrupt public servant, he is definitely not going to be treated on the same footing as another citizen who bribes that corrupt public servant. Thus the principle of equality before law and equal protection of law is distorted because of the corrupt public servant and the phenomenon of bribery.

Article 19 gives fundamental right to business or profession. It is the experience of our permit licence raj that one of the points generally made by the public servants who were controlling the clearances, that the citizen who is in business is getting to make a lot of profit because of the clearance. The corrupt public servant thinks that he has a right to share in the profit of the professional or the businessmen. This is where the corruption has evolved as the phenomenon by which the public servant exploits the public office for his private gain. The fundamental right for profession or business, therefore, is directly affected by the public servant insisting on his rent or 'mamool' or 'dastoori'. We can thus see that corruption goes directly against the guaranteed fundamental right of profession. The same can be said about the right for the freedom for freedom of speech freedom of movement. If a corrupt police official uses is power of office to restrict a citizen because he has not bribed him, he is indirectly preventing the exercise of the fundamental right of the citizen by his act of corruption.

We can thus see that each of the fundamental rights are day in and day out in our country restricted de facto because of the very real social evil of corruption. If the citizen is empowered with the power of corruption free service then it will act as an automatic check against misuse of authority.

At this stage, a point may be raised that is so many fundamental rights are already in existence and still these are being not implemented, how will addition of one more fundamental right make the situation better? The great advantage is that inclusion of a new fundamental right like the right to corruption free service sends a signal throughout the country that the there is a national consensus recognised the problem of corruption as a social evil and has conferred the right on the citizen to enable him to take on the corrupt public servants. The widespread awareness about the inclusion of this new fundamental right will bring in a new generation of students who, right from their school days, will become aware of this right as they study the structure of governance in our country. Public awareness in turn will crystallise into public opinion, which will provide the requisite sanction for modifying social behaviour.

Further, the very fact that this is a fundamental right will ensure that the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court can be approached. In addition to the provisions relating to Prevention of Corruption Act or other preventions about misuse of public offices, the fact that a citizen's fundamental right has been violated will also make the courts take a more serious view. We can expect a series of decisions from the court which in turn will go a long way in bringing a sea change in the legal framework and the administrative culture under which the executive functions.

The comments like this do not take into account the fact sometimes inclusion of a right in Constitution itself leads to social changes. This probably can be said of the provisions made in our Constitution regarding the abolition of untouchability, non-discrimination, ill-treatment, empowerment of the weaker sections etc.

An argument can be made that the fundamental rights already enshrined in the Constitution also ensure the right for corruption free service. If we consider that the State shall not deny any person equality before the law and equal protection of law within the territory of India, it can perhaps be argued that Article 29 (ii) need not be there at all. The main purpose of Article 29 (ii), from my plain reading of the Constitution, is to particularly articulate an important fundamental right of the minorities so that this is not sight of. More important, the minorities can exercise their right and get the protection of the law in exercising their right.

Similarly, Article 17 specifically abolishes untouchability. This was a social evil which had to be particularly mentioned in the Constitution as a fundamental right. Corruption is no less a social evil than untouchability and therefore why not specifically mention the need for eliminating corruption by making a fundamental right of every Indian citizen to get corruption free service.

Another social evil which is specifically abolished by including in the fundamental rights is prohibition of traffic in human beings and force labour (Article 23). Prohibition of employment of children in factories etc. under Article 24 is another example of a social evil being eliminated by including the elimination and conferring the rights on the Indian citizens by specific mention in the chapter on fundamental rights.

Generally, the values in a society underlie traditions. Traditions in turn get crystallised into legislation. The soul of the traditions or the most essential principles underlying the legislation get reflected in the Constitution. With the experience of the last 50 years of the working of constitution and the international developments especially the phenomenon of globalisation, it is high time that we include the fundamental right for corruption free service in the Chapter on Fundamental Rights in the Constitution.

Such a measure will make patent what is presumed and latent. There are many who point out to the other provisions of the Constitution and say that the corruption free service follows by the observance of the other provisions of the constitution. As we have seen above, the phenomenon of corruption in a way goes against the exercise of other fundamental rights mentioned in the constitution. There is therefore a need for explicitly articulating the corruption free service as a patent fundamental right of the Indian citizen so that what he is latent and lying hidden in the other provisions of the Constitution can be is made explicit. Making this explicit has the advantage of sending a signal throughout the country about the commitment of the state for improving the quality of life of the citizens of this country.

There may be many who will say that at best this will remain only on paper. At best, it may be only a cosmetic verbal gesture. On the other hand, a constitution is not a cosmetic verbal document. It is a living document articulating the spirit of the people as crystallised by the legislature and interpreted by the judiciary. Including this fundamental right therefore may begin as perhaps a verbal gesture but in course of time with the continuous interpretation of the right by the Supreme Court and the judiciary, we can expect that a social change can be brought about in the society. After all, we have seen, for instance, the affirmative action in favour of the weaker sections of society, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the minorities being articulated first in the Constitution and the subsequent history of 50 years and the judicial action. This have, in a way, resulted in bringing about social change. Bringing about the social change especially by way of checking corruption and improving governance therefore is an important aspect and inclusion of the new fundamental right can be taken as a first step in that long journey. "The journey of a thousand miles beings with the single step", says the Chinese proverb. Perhaps as we begin the journey as a republic in the 21st century articulating this new fundamental right may be right step to take towards making India a well governed country.

One method of bringing in the civil society in the fight against corruption is to spread vigilance awareness. The CVC is proposing the observance of Vigilance Awareness Week for one week for every year, starting from October 31st which is the birth day of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the Iron Man of India who integrated all the native states in India when the British left. October 31st also happens to be the day when Smt Indira Gandhi was assassinated. The 589 CVOS will organise throughout the country and NGOs and student bodies also should participate in the discussion about fighting corruption and spreading vigilance awareness. In this way, constantly there will be an awareness every year about the need for checking corruption. Corruption may be with us throughout the 365 days of the year but at least if for one week we fight it and check it, we would have started the process of making a change in the mind set of the people that corruption can be fought and eliminated. A journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step. The vigilance awareness week can be the first step in bringing in the people of the country to fight corruption.

In short, the answer to the question which were exploring is that corruption can be eradicated. It is the Dharma, at least of the Central Vigilance Commission to see that the corruption is eliminated. But in this fight against corruption it will be necessary to bring in other players also, the industry and the civil society. The ideas mentioned above may hopefully bring in a situation in our country where our ancient concept of Dharma can be re-established. The law (Dharma) is the king of kings. No one is superior to the law (Dharma). The law (Dharma) aided by the power of the king enables the weak to prevail over the strong.

"Tadetat kshatrasya kshatram yaddharmaha tasmaddharamatparam nasti
atho abliyan baliyamsamanshamsate dharmena yatha ragna evam"

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad