Tricky situation, needs tricky solution – In an act of corruption, victim is punished.
If I am mugged at knife point, I give away what the thief wants, due to fear of my life and to get out of the situation safely, that moment. Later, I go to a Police Station and register a compliant. For this I shall not be prosecuted. Rephrase the same situation in a scenario when I want to obtain a certificate from a government authority. If I do not bribe the public servant, he would reject or delay my request based on the billion technicalities that arises in issuing the certificate. So to get out of that situation I pay the bribe the public servant and get out of that situation at that moment. However if I later go to the police station and try lodging a compliant, I am also prosecutable. So the only option I have is to suffer the crime silently. The rejection or delay is like the knife. Presently, in this situation I am expected to fight the thief directly and get out of the situation. The system does not offer me any protection from this kind of crime.
Problem: If I fight against corruption, I am further victimised by delays and denial of just facilities that should accrue to me.
Solution: Fixing the onus of honesty on the authority. I suggest that the onus of being honest, incorruptible be made on the public servant. The citizen should be absolved of all responsibilities of indulging in corruption. In fact citizens should be given the right to fight against the corruption after the act is committed as in the case of theft. The following can be some scenarios which would occur due to this.
Scenario 1: I go to a government department and seek a certificate. If the babu asks for bribe, I just pay the bribe get the certificate. Later I go to a police station / lokpal and lodge a compliant that the babu took bribe from me. The court can simply punish the babu if he is found to have acquired more wealth than his means.
Scenario 2: I go to a government department and seek a certificate. I do not have the required eligibility and the babu does not take bribe. I get angry, go to a police station and lodge a compliant that the babu sought bribe from me. The babu can prove his innocence by showing proof that the application is insufficient / ineligible. In this case I can be prosecuted under false implication, defamation and obstruction of deliverance of government duty (maximum punishment can be made mandatory for this).
Scenario 3: I go to a government department and seek a certificate. I do not have the required eligibility and the babu issues the certificate by taking bribe. A third party goes to a police station and lodge a compliant regarding the act of corruption. The babu can be punished for taking the bribe and I can be punished for obtaining a certificate by providing false / insufficient information (Not for bribing)
Expected results: In such a situation, the babu will not indulge in the first scenario and I will not indulge in the second scenario. The third scenario is still possible, but any affected party will take care of 50% of this situation.
