Anti-corruption drive: Haryana CM Khattar gives nod for revolving fund to provide ‘trap money’

Chief minister Khattar has sent the VB’s proposal of revolving fund to the finance department for allocation of funds and a notification is likely to be issued shortly

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has approved vigilance bureau’s (VB) proposal for setting up of a ₹ 1 crore revolving fund to provide ‘trap money’ to aggrieved people lodging complaints against government officials demanding bribe.

Anti-corruption drive: Haryana CM Khattar gives nod for revolving fund to provide trap money

The chief minister, who is also the finance minister, has sent the VB’s proposal to the finance department for allocation of funds and a notification is likely to be issued shortly, two top government functionaries aware of the development said.

Initially, the state government had given an in-principle approval to the VB’s proposal mooted earlier this year after seeking clarifications on financial implications of this proposal and how the money given to the complainant will come back to the revolving fund.

Sources say that at the heart of the VB’s move is an attempt to deal with the reluctance of people to lodge complaints against corrupt officials as in large number of cases, the complainant decides not to approach the VB if the bribe money being demanded is huge.

Until now, the aggrieved person while knocking at the doors of the VB has to provide the bribe money ahead of VB laying the trap to catch red-handed the government officer/official demanding the bribe. And the money being provided by the complainant at the time of the trap remains deposited in the court till the final decision of the cases.

The VB has told the government that in case a big amount is demanded from the complainant in the form of bribe and the complainant is unable to arrange the money immediately, the bureau will provide the trap money from the revolving fund.

While mooting the proposal, the VB director general (DG) Shatrujeet Kapur had said that the issue of providing trap money by the complainant had been bothering the investigating agencies as the complainant often felt that the amount used for the trap was not only a financial loss, but also a burden on him.

“This discourages many complainants to come forward freely and affects the drive against eradication of corruption... Also, the amount provided by the complainant at the time of the trap remains deposited in the court till its final decision and does not get the amount back for a long time, leading to hardships,” Kapur had said in his letter, pointing out that even due to poor financial condition, the complainant is unable to get the trap laid.

The Rajasthan government established a ₹ 1 crore revolving fund in 2021, which is being used by its anti-corruption bureau.

Haryana VB has said that in case the financial condition of the complainant is not good and the bribe amount is arranged on loan or interest, the VB will reimburse the said amount to the complainant from the proposed revolving fund within a week.

As per the official data, between September 6, 2021 and April 20, 2022, the VB had registered 59 cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act and 78 government employees were caught red-handed while accepting bribe. The total bribe money in all these cases recovered was about ₹ 43 lakh.

On Wednesday, the chief minister reviewed the functioning of the VB in a marathon meeting that lasted nearly three hours and during the meeting, it came to the fore that conviction rate of the cases VB had registered was going down, said one of the officials quoted above.