Criminalizing Demand and Supply Side of Bribery in India Under Prevention of Corruption Amendment Act, 2018: Effective Deterrent of Corruption: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

Corruption, the phenomenon, has now become a legal quagmire, as it has imbibed itself, in almost all the engaging sectors in India. The crime of corruption does not only undermine public morale, but also it corrodes the economic development of a country.  From the corporate scams to the public sector corruption, the present scenario depicts proliferation of corruption, which urges for an effective anti-corruption law regime. In India, one of the main enactments which combats corruption is the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which has undergone a radical change, by its Amendment Act, 2018. Some of the salient features of this Prevention of Corruption Amendment Act, 2018, are very prominent, as it now provides for punitive measures for both bribe givers and takers including commercial organizations.  This paper scrutinizes the current scenario and makes a critical analysis on the points that whether the penalizing provisions enacted for the bribe-givers in the new Amendment Act, 2018, ipso facto, acts as an effective deterrent factor, against corruption and whether the rigmarole of drafting and enacting the new provisions for bribe-givers in the Amendment Act, will act as positive catalyst in revamping the abysmal situation of corruption scenario in India.  This paper aims on evaluating the effect of criminalization of the demand and supply side of bribe, in the light of the new Amendment Act, 2018, by utilizing the deterrent theory of punishment. This paper puts under microscope the conditional immunity granted to bribe givers under the new Amendment, in the scenario of system corruption, where corruption is not an aberration, but has evolved as a norm. Lastly, this paper provides some suggestions to ameliorate the current scenario.