Say no to bribe

Members of the Pune wing of India Against Corruption (IAC) launched an anti-corruption campaign titled 'say no to bribe' at Ralegan Siddhi, in the presence of Anna Hazare on Sunday. The activists carried out a car and bike rally from Pune to Ralegan Siddhi. The activists will now approach various government offices and appeal to the officers and the public to avoid giving or taking bribes. Nearly 200 people participated in the rally, which started from Vimannagar at 9 am. The rally reached the village around 12.30 pm.

"We had an appointment with Hazare in the afternoon. So we scheduled the rally accordingly," Devjeet Saha, a coordinator of the rally said. The intention of the rally was to have Anna launch the campaign. People who participated in the rally took a pledge in front of Anna that they would not participate in any kind of corruption, he said. "Anna interacted with the people for nearly an hour. He shared his experiences of Tihar jail and the agitations in Delhi," said participant Deepak Bharadia. "It was truly an inspiring experience for the participants," he added. Bharadia said that the IAC members and other citizens will visit various government offices from Thursday. The first visit will be to the passport office on Senapati Bapat Road.

"People from the city have been supporting the anti-corruption campaign in large numbers. The support was massive during Anna's fast. So citizens want to keep the spirit of the fight against corruption alive," he said.

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I Didn’t violate any service rule: Kejriwal

Anna Hazare’s key aide Arvind Kejriwal yesterday questioned the income tax notice served on him for payment of Rs 9 lakh as outstanding dues pertaining to the period while he was in government service, terming it a clear case of political vendetta against those involved in the Jan Lokpal campaign.

“In my opinion, there is no role of the Income Tax Department…they are doing it under political pressure,” he said, responding to the August 5 IT notice served on him.

Government sources, however, maintained that the notice had been served long back and the Anna group was only raking it up now to gain public sympathy and score brownie points.

Kejriwal said he remained in the government service from 1995 to 2006 and took study leave between November 2000 and October 2002. He said he rejoined and took a leave without pay from 2004 before resigning in February 2006 to devote full time to his NGO Parivartan.

The activist rejected the view that he had violated government service and bond rules or that he owed money to the government. He said if at all he owed money, the government could take it from his outstanding General Provident Fund dues. “I have been repeatedly writing to them to adjust it against my GPF amount, which is believed to be a few lakhs. However, this has not been done so far,” he said.

He said the government was interpreting the bond in a wrong way to suit itself. “No employee can work without taking a single break. I have not violated the bond condition. The government should return the GPF amount. I would donate the entire amount for the movement against corruption,” he added.

Supporting Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan said the notice showed “the government has not yet taken any lesson. It is still using its dirty tricks department to target the group”.

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