Some other Ordinances
The next day, the President promulgated a number of other Ordinances. The details of these are given below.
Prevention of Proliferation of Weapons
Preamble
The level of violence in the country has reached unacceptable limits. Anti socials, criminals and terrorists are arming themselves with sophisticated fire arms and explosives. These are also being freely used against innocent citizens, police and paramilitary forces. The only way of reducing the level of violence is to free the country of the menace of illegal fire arms and explosives.
Restrictions on Possession of Fire Arms and Explosives
Any person who is found to be in possession an unlicensed fire arm or explosive will be immediately arrested. He will be punished with death by torture, if found guilty in a court of law. The sentence would be commuted to life imprisonment if provides information regarding the source or consignee which will help in their capture or elimination.
The owner or tenant of any premises from where any unlicensed fire arm or explosive is recovered will be immediately arrested. Unless he is able to prove that the fire arms or explosives were kept in the premises without his knowledge, he will, if found guilty by a court of law, be punished with life imprisonment.
Liability to Provide Information
Any person who is found to be in possession of unlicensed arms or explosive and fails to provide authentic information about the source of arms or explosive will, if found guilty by a court of law, be liable to death by torture. If he discloses the relevant information before or during torture, which enables the law enforcement agencies to find and destroy the source of such weapons, the sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment.
Restriction on Production and Trading in Fire Arms and Explosives
Any person engaged in production of arms or explosives without a valid license will, if convicted by a court of law, be punished by life imprisonment.
Any person engaged in procurement, sale or transportation of illegal weapons, will, on conviction by a court of law, be punished with life imprisonment. He will also be liable to death by torture if he fails to disclose the full details of the source of supplies of the arms and explosives and details of sales made.
All offenses under this Ordinance will be non bailable. The charge sheets will be filed within 90 days by the investigating agency and the trial must be completed within 180 days. If the investigating agency fails to file a charge sheet within 90 days, without obtaining a prior exemption from a court of law, the officer in charge of the investigation will be dismissed from service.
Restrictions on Possession of Money in Cash
Preamble
Money in the form of cash is the source of many evils. Cash is freely used for bribing, gaining political favors, influencing decisions, paying "supari" (money) for killings and so on. It also contributes to concealing income and generating black money and causing loss of revenue to the government. It is therefore essential that possession of cash beyond a certain limit be declared a cognizable offense. Money must be kept in banks so that all transactions can be traced if required.
Restrictions on Possession of Money in Cash
No individual will be in possession of cash in excess of Rs 50,000 at any time. If more cash is recovered from any individual or premises during a search, the amount in excess of Rs 50,000 will be confiscated and deposited in the Government treasury. If the offense is repeated, the individual will be sentenced to a period of imprisonment of not less than one year in addition to confiscation of the excess money.
There will be an amnesty period of 15 days from the date of this Ordinance. All individuals are required to deposit their cash in any bank within these 15 days.
No branch of any company registered under the Companies Act, proprietorship or partnership company and no non government organization formed for any purpose whatsoever, will keep more than Rs 100,000 in cash on the premises except on salary day which will be notified in advance. All salary payments in excess of Rs 5000 will be by cheque. If more cash is recovered from any company during a search, the entire cash in excess of Rs 100,000 will be confiscated and credited to Government treasury. In case of a second offense, the head of the branch will be sentenced to an imprisonment of one year in addition to confiscation of excess cash. The amnesty period of 15 days will be applicable to companies.
No business premises will keep cash in excess of Rs 50,000. Items worth more than Rupees 5000 will be paid for by cheque or credit or debit card. If more cash is recovered from any business premises during a search, the amount in excess of Rs 50000 will be confiscated and credited to Government treasury. In case of a second offense the proprietor will be sentenced to imprisonment for a period of one year. The amnesty period will apply.
No political party will keep cash in excess of Rs 100,000 in their offices. All payments to candidates for election expense will be made by cheque. All donations to political parties by individuals or organizations in excess of Rupees 5000 will be by cheque.
Reward for Information Leading to Recovery of Cash
Any person who provides information leading to recovery of cash over and above the ceiling limit laid down will be entitled to a reward of 10 percent of the cash confiscated.
Restrictions on Possession of Gold
Preamble
Once restriction is placed on cash, it is possible that gold will be used in lieu of cash for paying bribes and keeping black money. It is therefore necessary to put some restrictions on the possession of gold. The other reason for this measure is that India imports about 450 tons of gold every year. This puts a great pressure on our economy and foreign exchange reserves. This practice needs to be discouraged.
Restrictions on Possession of Gold
Any person holding primary gold or ornaments weighing more than 1 Kg must declare his gold holding on his income tax return. If the individual is not an income tax payer, he or she will be required to declare the gold holding to the income tax department on a special form to be published in the news papers. If the gold is held on the name of a minor or any other relative, the gold will have to be formally gifted through an affidavit and gift tax would have to be paid on the same. The first return on gold holding will be submitted to the income tax department within 15 days of the promulgation of this ordinance. If undeclared gold is found on any premises, the quantity above 1 kg will be confiscated and credited to Government Treasury.
No individual will be permitted to hold more than 5 kg of gold under any circumstances. If more than 5 kg of gold is recovered from any individual the gold in excess of 5 kg will be confiscated and credited to Government Treasury.
No company as defined under the companies act, no business establishment or NGO is permitted to posses any gold, either primary or in the form of ornaments. However, companies or business establishments who are licensed to sell primary gold or ornaments are exempted. Temple authorities who receive gold offerings are also exempted provided they declare their gold holdings to the income tax department every month.
Reward for Information Leading to Recovery of Gold
Any person who provides information leading to recovery of unauthorized gold holdings will be given a reward of 10 percent of the value of the gold confiscated.
Sanction of Investigation of Charges of Corruption against Ministers, Elected Representatives and Government Servants and their Prosecution
Preamble
All persons who deal with public money do so as trustees and have to ensure that the public money is spent as per rules and regulations on the subject, for the purpose for which they are meant and cost effectively. Hence, when charges of corruption are leveled against such persons, these need to be investigated on priority. However, it is noticed that sanctions are not given to the investigating agencies for carrying out investigation and prosecution for long periods of time. This makes investigation difficult and gives time to the culprits to destroy or to tamper with the evidence. Attempts ar
e also made to use the sanction as a weapon against political opponents. This has to be stopped.
Asking for Sanction
All investigating agencies will make their requests for permission to investigate charges of corruption against ministers, elected representatives or Government Servants or for launching prosecution against them in a court of law, to the competent authority in writing. A copy of the request will be endorsed to the economic offenses cell in the Ministry of Finance and the Central Vigilance Commission.
No sanction will be necessary for investigating persons below the rank of joint secretary or equivalent.
Grant of Sanction
The competent authority will examine the case and grant sanction at the earliest possible but not later than 30 days from the receipt of the request.
If sanction is denied, the reasons for such a denial will be recorded in writing and forwarded to the economic offenses cell in the Ministry of Finance and the CVC. The economic offenses cell will have the powers to over rule the decision of the competent authority.
If sanction is not denied within 30 days, the investigating agency will proceed with the investigation or prosecution without sanction.
Liability of the Competent Authority
If any competent authority appears to have denied the sanction with malafied intent to protect any individual or without applying himself, he will, if found guilty in a court of law, be dismissed and debarred from holding a responsible office in any government.
The economic offenses cell will be responsible to bring such cases to the notice of the President.
Withdrawal of Cases Registered
Preamble
It has been noticed that whenever there is a change of government in any state, a number of cases already registered are withdrawn. This smacks of political favors being granted to party members or supporting criminals. This has to be stopped and law must be allowed to follow its own course.
Restriction on Withdrawal of Cases Registered
Once a case has been registered against any person or persons in a court of law , the state government or police is barred from withdrawing the case without due sanction of the court where the case has been registered.
The court may dismiss the case for want of adequate evidence. However, if the court is of the opinion that the lack of evidence is due to ineffective or motivated action by the investigating authorities, the court will pass suitable strictures against the investigating agency. It will be obligatory for the head of the investigating agency to take note of the strictures passed by the court. He should thereafter investigate the lapse and initiate suitable disciplinary action against those responsible for the lapse. If the head of the investigating agency fails to take or initiate action against the person or persons responsible for the lapse, the services of the head of the agency will be terminated on grounds of inefficiency at the pleasure of the President.
The court may permit a case to be withdrawn provided; the complainant, if he is an individual, withdraws the case. However, cases pertaining to murder and rape cannot be withdrawn.
The court may permit a case to be withdrawn provided that the parties, if they are individuals or companies, involved in the case agree to a mutual settlement and the complainant agrees to drop the case.
Dealing with Unauthorized Construction
Preamble
Unauthorized construction is one of the banes of our corrupt systems. It is common for our builders and real-estate developers to bribe the concerned authorities and to construct more area or floors than that allowed as per the sanction or the prevalent laws. Demolition of such structures is not always possible as the tenants or owners of these premises are often not the beneficiaries of the corrupt practice indulged in by the builder or developer. There is long litigation and the demolitions of such structures serve no purpose. However, to discourage this practice, it has to be ensured that the builders and developers do not benefit from such deeds. This Ordinance seeks to put an end to this practice.
Penalties for Unauthorized Construction
In case a builder or developer constructs an unauthorized structure without a valid sanction from the Competent Authority in the case, or constructs more than the sanctioned FSI and constructs more floors or premises he will be penalized as follows:
If the unauthorized portion is unsold and unoccupied, it will be confiscated by the Government and auctioned and the proceeds will be deposited in Government treasury.
If the unauthorized portion is sold, the property will be valued by an authorized valuer and the builder or developer will be required to deposit in Government treasury the value of the said unauthorized property within three months of the notice to do so. If the builder or developer of the said property fails to do so, all members of the board of directors of the company including the chairman will be punished by imprisonment of seven years and the premises of the offenders will be confiscated and the money recovered.
If the property has been leased out on a rent and deposit, the property will be confiscated by the Government. The rent and deposit paid by the tenant to the builder or developer will be recovered from the builder developer and deposited in Government treasury. If the builder developers fail to do so within three months of such notice, the entire board of directors including the chairman will be punished by imprisonment of seven years. The future rents on the property will be paid by the tenants to the government.
Any Government Servant who has aided or abetted in the construction of the said unauthorized property or failed to take timely action to prevent such unauthorized construction will , if found guilty by a court of law , be dismissed from service without any benefits and be sentenced to up to seven years imprisonment.
Any person who interferes with the implementation of these guidelines and any government authority that fails to take immediate action on cases of unauthorized construction will, if found guilty by a court of law, be punished with imprisonment of seven years. If the person happens to be a government servant, he will be dismissed from service without any benefit.
This law comes with retrospective effect of 10 years.
Rewards and Punishment for Government Servants
Preamble
The Government Servant is restricted in his operation by a number of rules and regulations. The job is secure and promotion is time bound and rarely related to performance. Thus they also rarely see the necessity of being efficient and result oriented. To improve efficiency, it is therefore necessary to introduce a system of rewards and punishment for Government Servants.
Rewards for Government Servants
Any Government Servant who is in charge of a time bound project at the executive level costing not less than Rs. 1 Crore will , on successful completion of the project within the time and cost laid down, be given a reward of Rs 1 Lakh. His superior officer, if any, will get Rs 10,000 and Rs 90,000 will be divided amongst his subordinates in the department in the proportion of their basic salaries. The reward will be exempt from income tax.
Any Government Servant who through his efficient functioning or through innovative decision making saves the nation a sum of more than Rs. 1 Lakh will be entitled to a reward of 10 percent of the amount saved subject to a maximum of Rs 1 Lakh. The reward will be exempt of income tax.
The reward will be claimed by the Government Servant himself, giving full details of his achievements. The claim will be submitted directly to the President with a copy to the next superior officer who will directly forward his comments on the claim to the President. The claim will be disposed off within six months after due verification. If the process is delayed, the head of the department where he functions will be punished with loss of seniority up to five years.
Punishments for Government Servants
Any Government officer who fails to take a decision on any application by the general public within on month of the receipt of the application will be fined Rs 1000 for the first offense. He will be removed from his appointment
and demoted if he is found guilty a second time.
Any Government officer, who causes a loss to the state through a delay in decision making or through malafied decision making, will on being found guilty of the charge by a departmental inquiry or a court of law, be fined 10 percent of the loss subject to a maximum of Rs 1 Lakh. If he is found guilty a second time, in addition to the fine, he will be removed from the appointment and demoted.
The complaints for inadequate functioning of Government Servants may be made directly to the President with a copy to the head of the Government Department by the aggrieved party, the media or any non government organization. It will be mandatory for the head of the Government Department to investigate the matter and give his recommendation within one month. Any failure by the Head of the Department to do so will result in his removal and premature retirement.
Punishment for Heinous Crimes
Preamble
Certain heinous crimes like dowry deaths by burning, gang rapes, throwing acid on people and stripping of women are on the increase. It seems that the punishments for these crimes are inadequate. It would also seem that a class of people has come to believe that they can get away with such deeds. Laws for dealing with these crimes are in place. But the punishments for such cases are not adequate to deter potential culprits. It is there decided to punish these offense in such a way that no one would contemplate committing these crimes.
Punishment for Dowry Deaths by Burning
Any person or persons, convicted by a court of law, for burning a woman for any reason whatsoever, will be sentenced to death by burning. The sentence will be carried out at a public place after giving due publicity. The public would be allowed to see the execution free of cost. Television channels would be welcome to telecast the event alive.
Punishment for Gang Rape
Persons, convicted in a court of law, for gang raping a woman will, in addition to serving the prison sentence as per law will have a foreign body inserted in their anus for a period of 6 hours. The punishment will be carried out in a public place after giving due publicity. The public would be allowed to see the execution free of cost. Television channels would be welcome to telecast the event alive.
Punishment for Throwing Acid
Any person or persons, convicted in a court of law, for throwing acid on any person for any reason whatsoever, will have acid thrown on the person to the same part of the anatomy. The punishment will be carried out in a public place after giving due publicity. The public would be allowed to see the execution free of cost. Television channels would be welcome to telecast the event alive.
Punishment for Stripping
Any person or person who forces another person whether male or female to strip naked in a public place or in case of women, forcibly removes any pert of her clothing for any reason whatsoever, will on conviction by a court of law, be punished by parading the said person or persons naked in public for a period of a minimum of two hours and be given ten strokes of cane.
Dealing with such Cases
All the above offenses will be non bailable.
The trial must commence within 90 days of the registration of the complaint.
The trial will be completed within 90 days of commencement.
If the accused are absconding for more than seven days, the accused will be declared proclaimed offenders and all their moveable and immovable assets will be seized, auctioned and credited to government treasury. Any persons harboring the accused, if proved guilty in a court of law, will be treated as co accused and be liable to the same punishment as the accused.
Culpability of the Investigating Agencies
If there is any delay in recording of the FIR or investigation of the crime, the officer in charge of the police station will, if convicted of dereliction to duty by a court of law, be dismissed from service and be deemed to be an accessory to the crime and be liable to suffer the same punishment as the accused.
If there is any laxity in arresting the accused or in the investigation of the case , the officer in charge of investigation will , if found to be guilty of dereliction to duty , be deemed to be an accessory to the crime and be liable to suffer the same punishment as the accused.
Insider Crimes
Preamble
Thieves will commit theft and pick pockets will pick pockets. This is to be expected. But if the person appointed to guard the material commits theft or misappropriation of the material his offense deserves greater punishment. Thus, if a woman is raped in a police station or a bank employee commits a fraud, the gravity of the crime increases manifold. The aim of this ordinance is to ensure that insider crimes are reduced.
Punishment for Insider Crimes
When the protector or man in charge becomes the culprit, the minimum punishment for any crime under the IPC or Indian Civil Code will be four times the maximum punishment normally admissible for the crime.
The President held the customary press conference the day after the issue of the ordinances. A number of the members of the media and certain human rights groups came out strongly against some of the ordinances.
One of the media persons asked the President as to why he had introduced death by torture as a punishment. The President said that under the present laws, it was virtually impossible for the investigating agency to find out any information about the source consignee of the illegal arms or narcotics seized. Same was the case with smuggled gold, arms and explosives. In case of economic offenses, the culprits were not willing to reveal what they had done with the money. The so called interrogation by the investigating agency is incapable of breaking a hardened criminal and obtaining any useful information. Even if the accused confesses during interrogation, he can always plead in court that he did so under duress .Third degree is not permitted by law and if the unfortunate chap died in custody, you media persons and the human rights groups would be at the throat of the Government. But unless reliable information is available, we can not hurt the big fish. Just punishing the couriers is not going to solve the problem. So the best thing is that let a person be convicted just for the possession of the contraband goods. Then, since torture will be legal, either the individual will die of torture, or he will spill the beans and we will be able to bust the criminal organization and mafia leaders.
Another media person asked the President whether making possession of more than Rs. 20,000 in cash will not make doing business difficult. The President replied in the negative and asked the lady whether she had ever been paid by Rs 500 notes except at the ATM machines. She replied in the negative. The President pointed out that the common people did not need to use high denomination notes and did not need to hold large amounts of cash. You have traveler's cheques, debit cards and credit cards. So where is the need to carry or pay by cash. But certain learned economists are recommending the introduction of 5000 and Rs 10,000 denomination notes. Who needs such notes? Only those who want to do large illegal cash transactions. Today you do not require a suitcase to carry Rs. 1 Crore. Would it not be much more convenient for the corrupt if a lady could carry Rs 1 Crore in her purse? It would be much less conspicuous than a suitcase and much easier to hide. Only those with criminal intent needed large quantities of cash.
The President was next asked whether it was possible to force people to part with their cash. The President asked the person to be patient. Let the amnesty period be over. Then he would demonstrate how it could be done. He reminded them of the saying “where there is will, there is a way.”
Another asked whether his Ordinance on heinous crimes would not be decried by the developed world and invite sanctions for not adhering to human rights norms. The President replied that in some of the countries like Saudi Arabia, death by stoning, caning etc. were legal. The US and the developed nations have never complained. In Singapore, an American youth was caned for spraying paint on roadside cars. The US tried to stop it but did not put any trade embargo. So there was no justification for imposing sanctions. If the developed nations de
cide to impose sanctions on India, it will be to prevent it from being strong and independent in its policies and actions. If doing so is in the national interest of these countries, they will find some reason or the other to do it. Being laid back does not always pay. You are then exploited and ignored. The Chinese and the Soviets have proved it on many occasions.
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