Bribe

A bribe giver is a person who offers/ gives money or other valuables to a person in power in order to get some work done. The work the bribe giver wants to get done is usually illegal. Or the legal course may be quite lengthy and tedious so he offers bribe to save himself from the hassle. A bribe taker is a person who demands/ takes money or other valuables in exchange of rendering a service or clearing some issue. This is an opportunity for him to make quick money.

Bribery is an extremely corrupt practice. Bribe givers as well as bribe takers are punishable as per the Indian law. A person who facilitates bribery acting as the middle man between the bribe giver and bribe taker is also punished. The Indian Penal Code of 1960 and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 have termed the acts of giving and receiving bribe as punishable offences.

Earlier, the Indian law did not consider a bribe giver as big an offender as the bribe taker. However, the law was amended as per the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2018. The acts of bribe giving and receiving are now considered as equal offences. The punishment for giving as well as taking bribe has also been raised henceforth. A person found guilty of bribery can be imprisoned and charged with heavy penalties.

• The minimum jail term for bribe givers and offenders has been raised to 3 years. They are also fined heavily for indulging in this malpractice. The imprisonment can be extended up to 7 years.
• Those who indulge in the practice of bribery repeatedly can face imprisonment of 5 years. This punishment is extendable for up to 10 years.
• A law to protect the coercive bribery has also been put in place. Coercive bribery establishes a victim who is usually the bribe giver. In such cases, the bribe giver is forced to pay an amount to get his work done even though there is no reason to hold it back. The law to protect coercive bribery works in cases where the victim reports the issue within 7 days.
• As per this newly established law, the people in power in a commercial organization shall be held responsible in case any of their employee bribes a person with their approval to further the interest of the organization.

It is important to punish both bribe takers and bribe givers in order to stop this corrupt practice. The decision of punishing both the parties has brought down the cases of bribery to some extent.