A consecutive sentence is harsher than a concurrent one.
New Delhi: Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues his crusade against corruption by making laws stricter, there are demands seeking consecutive sentence, instead of concurrent sentence, in cases of corruption, separatism and terrorism, which is being followed in many countries, including the United States (US).
When a sentence runs concurrently, defendants serve all the sentences at the same time. On the other hand, in case of consecutive sentence, defendants have to finish serving the sentence for one offence before they start serving the sentence for any other offence. In consecutive sentence, all the terms are added. Thus, a consecutive sentence is more harsh and a better deterrent for corruption, separatism and terrorism related cases.
Senior BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to file reply to his Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court seeking various jail terms awarded to a convict under special laws on corruption and terrorism to run consecutively and not concurrently. He has also requested them to support the petition.
The PIL was filed a year ago. After the PIL was filed, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Law Ministry, Ministry of Finance and Law Commission of India, seeking consecutive sentence instead of concurrent sentence, under the Special Laws relating to corruption, separatism and terrorism; viz. the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, etc. However, even after one year, neither the Law Ministry nor the Ministry of Finance has filed their reply till date.
Upadhyay said: “Corruption hurts the poor disproportionately by diverting funds intended for development, undermining the government’s ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice, and discouraging foreign aid and investment. It is a key element in economic under-performance and major obstacle to poverty alleviation and development. The most important fundamental right— Right to Life—guaranteed under Article 21 cannot be secured to all citizens and the great golden goals as set out in the Preamble cannot be achieved without curbing the corruption and black money generation.”
He said it is duty of the State to take steps to curb corruption and black money generation and give a strong message that government is determined to fight against corruption and black money generation. According to him, executive action should be taken to warn the corrupt that betrayal of the public trust will no longer be tolerated.
Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International has placed India at rank 80 in Corruption Perception Index 2019. Though it has come down by seven points compared to what it was in 2013, a year before Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over. India ranked 66th in 1998, 72nd in 1999, 69th in 2000, 71st in 2001 and 2002, 83rd in 2003, 90th in 2004, 88th in 2005, 70th in 2006, 72nd in 2007, 85th in 2008, 84th in 2009, 87th in 2010, 95th in 2011, 94th in 2012, 87th in 2013, 85th in 2014, 76th in 2015, 79th in 2016, 81st in 2017 and 79 in 2018.
Corruption, according to Upadhyay, is the root cause of “pitiable condition of our international ranking”. “We are ranked 103 in the Global Hunger Index, 43 in Suicide Rate, 168 in Literacy Rate, 133 in World Happiness Index, 125 in Gender Discrimination, 124 in Minimum Pay, 42 in Employment Rate, 66 in Rule of Law Index, 43 in Quality of Life Index, 51 in Financial Development Index, 177 in Environment Performance Index, 13 in GDP Per Capita. Therefore, we need strict punishment,” he added.
“India cannot move forward without clean and transparent governance, for which a corruption-free society is a basic requirement. Corruption disrupts public distribution system. It is inimical to fostering of excellence and has adverse impact on EWS and BPL families. About 50% population is in distress, leading a hand-to-mouth existence, large segments not knowing where the next meal is coming, with abominable health standards and primary education levels. Much of this malaise is traceable to widespread corruption and existence of black money,” Upadhyay said.
On the other hand, India is facing multifarious challenges in the management of its internal security. There is an upsurge of terrorist activities, intensification of cross border terrorist activities and insurgent groups in different parts of the country. Terrorism has now acquired global dimensions and has become a challenge for the whole world. The reach and methods adopted by terrorist groups and organisations take advantage of modern means of communication and technology using high tech facilities available in the form of communication system, transport, sophisticated arms and various other means. This has enabled them to strike and create terror among people at will.
The criminal justice system of India like Indian Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code was not designed to deal with such type of crimes. In view of this situation, it was felt necessary to make special anti-terror laws for giving rigorous punishment for these enemies of humanity. India needs a stringent law to end terrorist activities. Earlier Kashmir, Punjab and North East states were affected, but currently the scope has been increased. Around 250 districts are afflicted from terrorism and there are around 400 separatist organisations operating in the country.