Significant rise in bribe amount in last 2 years

“Under Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices Prevention Act,the prosecution sanction has to be given by the concerned department which did not happen in this case,leading to the bail,” said J R Tiwari,Assistant Director,Vadodara Bureau,ACB. He added: “Earlier,the commission (bribe) demanded by officials,as told by the complainants,was between 5 and 10 per cent,which has now risen to 70.”

As per the ACB records,there are 64 cases pending in Vadodara district,26 in Bharuch and Narmada districts,and 15 in Panchmahals and Dahod districts. “Some of these cases have been pending since 1988,” Tiwari said.

There were eight convictions in Vadodara,three in Bharuch and Narmada,while all the accused in five cases in Panchmahals and Dahod were released. The most corrupt departments include the Panchayat and Irrigation (six cases each) followed by the police (five cases),in the five districts.

Tiwari said it is easier to lodge a bribery complaint against a policeman. “In the case of other departments,people are directly involved with the officials in terms of getting their bills cleared or tenders accepted; so they are reluctant to file complaints. With the police,one is either guilty or innocent; so if the police is on the wrong side of law,it is easy to pinpoint when a policemen asks for bribe,” he said.