Srinagar, July 20: Established with the objective of curbing political corruption in Jammu and Kashmir, the premier anti-corruption body, State Accountability Commission, continues to be defunct for almost three years now, putting a huge question mark over the claims of the ruling National Conference-Congress coalition to ensure transparency in the system.
Though government had time and again assured to re-constitute the commission and giving it more powers to fight political corruption, the assurance never saw the light of the day with even the directions from the High Court for making the SAC fully functional given a deaf ear by the government.
Sources said last time the selection panel for the SAC headed by the Chief Minister, Chief Justice, Law minister and Speaker of legislative Assembly as its members had recommended names of Justice (retd) Yash Paul Nargotra and Justice (retd) Basheer Ahmad Kirmani as SAC members.
However, the recommendations were not accepted by the state Governor NN Vohra on the grounds that the opposition leader Mehbooba Mufti was not part of the meeting. Mufti had objected to the recommendations of the selection committee, sources said.
Though the government had decided to call the meeting of the selection panel again to select SAC members, the same could not take place as the former chief justice of the state, Chief Justice Barin Gosh retired and the government could fix the date with the new CJ for the meeting.
The Commissioner Secretary Law Department said the selection committee meeting was scheduled for July 15, but it couldn’t take place due to the prevailing situation. He said the next date of meeting has not been fixed yet. Faced with criticism, sources said the coordination committee of the coalition government which met here last week discussed various names for the Commission but could not reach any consensus.
The State Accountability Commission is without a formal head since May 6, 2006 when its first Chairman late Justice RP Sethi resigned in protest against alleged interference by state government in the functioning of commission. Thereafter, Justice GL Raina, who was member of commission served as its acting Chairman till his retirement in 2008 while Justice Muzaffar Jan who was the only member of the commission retired in October 2009.
The PDP-Congress Coalition Government had introduced the bill to establish SAC in 2002. The then Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig had declared that the Commission would help to bring to book the politicians involved in corrupt practices. The opposition National Conference legislators saw the bill as a weapon in government’s hands that would be used against it.
Later, the bill was passed and it became an Act, and with it the SAC came into being. But still it took the government some three years to find a suitable person as its chairman, in the person of late Justice (retd) RP Sethi. Justice Sethi took over as the first chairman of SAC in August 2005 and his tenure ended on a disappointing note with his resignation in May 2006.
A legislator pleading anonymity said the system of corruption worked but the system of SAC was not allowed to work. He said after Justice Sethi none was appointed its chairman. Last year the State Government brought an amendment in the Act excluding bureaucrats from the purview of the Act.
Former Finance Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig says purpose of the SAC was to check political corruption and “ensure propriety in political life.” That is why, Baig said, all public functionaries including Chief Minister, Ministers, Advisors to Governor, MLAs, vice-chancellor of universities have been brought under its purview. He said the NC-led Government brought the amendment to kill the bill. He argues that a Minister usually takes decision on file and the file is presented to him by bureaucrat. He said when the bureaucrat is exempted, the Minister would also plead that he acted on the advice of bureaucrat. “This way the Government has rendered the Commission legally ineffective and practically non-functional,” he said.
 Senior counsel Zaffar Ahmad Shah said the commission would take cognizance of cases against politicians when someone will come forward with a formal compliant against the politicians. “It cannot move from door to door and see who has done what,” he said. But the question there should be Commission and it is no where, he added.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
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