Article Published In Vol.4 (May-June-2016)

Right to Information Act 2005: A Vital Tool for Controlling Corruption In India

Author : Dr. Srinivasa Rao Gochipata and Prof. Y.P. Ramasubbaiah

Across the globe from the womb to tomb there is countless instance of corruption. Many a scam has staggered and has been staggering the development and welfare of the Nation. Corruption confiscates the welfare programmes and policies and makes them contagious and constipates the progressive development of the nations. To preserve the progressive welfare of the State by preventing bribery and corruption the law makers have thought of enacting Anti-Corruption Laws in India and protect the system from the evil of corruption. The Government of India has enacted Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Right to Information Act, 2005 besides relevant statutory provisions to prevent corruption in India. Mere enacting Anti-Corruption Laws cannot curb corruption. Perfectly framed strong machinery is essentially needed to enforce and implement those laws effectively. Hence, certain Anti-Corruption Agencies namely Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), The Lokpal, Lokyukta and Upalokayukta are established to enforce the Anti-Corruption Laws in India . Despite Legislations and Commissions appointed by the Government, there is a rapid growth of corruption in India. This is evident from the reports of Transparency India International, a Berlin based NGO that India ranks 78 from 167 countries with a score of 3.8 in the recent corruption perception index report 2015. From the Prime Minister’s office to village panchayat are engaged with full of bribery and corruption because our employees and politicians are citizens, and they are nothing extraordinary in excepting that like all other citizens, they conform to the normative order that is law. The present paper is discusses the role of Right to Information Act, 2005 to controlling the corruption in India.

Keywords: Corruption, anti-corruption laws, anti-corruption agencies and Right to Information Act.