The laws to prevent corruption in India were first enacted in the Indian Penal Code(Sections 161-171) in 1860 by the British government of India.These provisions prohibit a public servant from taking any thing(in cash or kind) other than his/her legal remuneration for doing any act which he/she is under an obligation to do or not to do.Later ,the Indian Parliament also enacted the Prevention of Corruption Acts, first in 1947 and again in 1988, to strengthen the law of prevention of corruption by making it a little more particular and stringent.In the new Act the minimum mandatory punishment has been prescribed and also the punishment(imprisonment)has been enhanced from three years to five years.But, in spite of a very strict legal regime the corruption in India is increasing day by day and there is no sign of it getting under control by the new rule and the machineries created under them.When the provisions of Indian Penal Code were the only rules to prevent corruption,it was better controlled than today when we have a specific and comparatively a stricter law.Do we come forward to think about the reasons for the rapid growth of corrupt activities in the government departments or we ourselves try to get an opportunity to take our share in this corrupting system? Actually, the provisions of Indian Penal Code were enough to control the corruption till they were allowed to control it.When the corrupt officials and government servants were under an impression that if they will engage in corrupt practices the law will deal with them strictly and there will be no defense for them the corruption was under control.But in 1952, Section 165-A was added in Indian Penal Code that made the abetting of corruption a specific offence and it gave an instrument in the hands of corrupt officials to frame the complainant of a corrupt practice with the abetment of it and get him punished by misusing the government machinery.Now even the person who is compelled to pay the bribe to an official for getting his work done will not dare to make a complaint in fear of getting himself charged with the abetment of the crime.The English government of India was better concerned with the prevention of corruption but our own government ,in the name preventing the misuse of anti-corruption laws,added the new provision of abetment of corruption that actually prevents the victim of corruption from making a complaint against a public official due to the fear of getting himself charged with the offence of abetment of corruption.This has emboldened the already corrupt govern officials to get involved in the crime without much fear and has contributed in the growth of rampant corruption in the country.
