ARUN KUMAR AGRAWAL Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) CORRUPTION in a civilised society is a disease like cancer, which if not detected in time is sure to malignise the polity of country leading to disastrous consequences. It is termed as plague which is not only contagious but if not controlled spreads like a fire in a jungle. Its virus is compared with hiv leading to aids, being incurable. It has also been termed as royal thievery. The socio-political system exposed to such a dreaded communicable disease is likely to crumble under its own weight. Corruption is opposed to democracy and social Order, being not only anti people, but aimed and targeted against them. It affects the economy and destroys the cultural heritage. Unless nipped in the bud at the earliest, it is likely to cause turbulence shaking of the socio- economic-political system in an otherwise healthy, wealthy, effective and vibrating society.

(2.) THE menace of corruption was found to have enormously increased by first and second world war conditions. The corruption, at the initial stages, was considered confined to the bureaucracy who had the opportunities to deal with a variety of state largess in the form of contracts, licences and grants. Even after the war the opportunities for corruption continued as large amounts of government surplus stores were required to be disposed of by the public servants. As consequence of the wars the shortage of various goods necessitated the imposition of controls and extensive schemes of post-war reconstruction involving the disbursement of huge sums of money which lay in the control of the public servants giving them wide discretion with the result of luring them to the glittering shine of the wealth and property. In order to consolidate and amend the laws relating to prevention of corruption and matters connected thereto, the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 was enacted which was amended from time to time. In the year 1988 a new act on the subject being act No. 49 of 1988 was enacted with the object of dealing with the circumstances, contingencies and shortcomings which were noticed in the working and implementation of 1947 act. The law relating to prevention of corruption was essentially made to deal with the public servants, as understood in the common parlance but specifically defined in the act. The legislators and the people had at that time not envisaged the inflow of corruption in the political arena. Corruption amongst politicians was unheard of in the Indian society. Such a corruption is generally related to the inflow of foreign capital investment in the Indian economy. The foreign investors being generally not amenable to the jurisdiction of the Indian courts, are alleged to be finding it easy to resort to corruption amongst the politicians with the sole object of amassing wealth and earning profits. The latest phenomenon is attributed to the so called liberalisation policy permitting the foreign investors for the proclalmed object of strengthening the Indian economy for the alleged betterment of the people. Corruption amongst politicians is related to various scandals such as relating to bofors, the hawala, the fodder scam, import of sugar, telecommunications, etc. Etc. Connected with or related to the foreign investors in their specified fields of activities.

(3.) IN the backdrop of the scenario noticed above, we are called upon to peep into various circumstances in order to ascertain prima facie the alleged kickbacks and bribe stated to have been paid by respondent 5 and its allies to various persons and organisations known and unknown for the purposes of procuring power purchase agreement (ppa) for the generation of 1000 mw of electricity at mangalore under the so called suspicious and uncalled for circumstances.