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Thursday, Mar 08, 2007
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Court: hanging in public only panacea for corruption

"Everyone wants to loot country, everywhere we have corruption"

New Delhi: Observing that everyone wanted to loot this country, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said, "the only way to rid the country of corruption is to hang a few of you on the lamp post."

"The law does not permit us to do it but otherwise we would prefer to hang people like you to the lamp post,'' a Bench comprising Justices S.B. Sinha and Markandeya Katju said during arguments put forth by R. Singh, counsel for an accused.

As counsel tried to make a submission, Justice Katju said, "Everywhere, we have corruption. Nothing is free from corruption. Everybody wants to loot this country. The only solution for this menace is to hang some people in the public so that it acts as a deterrent on others.''

The Bench was hearing a bail application moved by Braj Bhushan Prasad, a Bihar Government employee who was dismissed for his alleged involvement in the Rs. 1,000-crore fodder scam, in which the name of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad also figured.

When counsel said Prasad was a mere budget accounts officer, the Bench said: "Look at that. You are supposed to audit the funds, but see what you have done." A special court in Jharkhand sentenced Prasad to five-year imprisonment. The Bench also rejected counsel's plea for a direction to the Jharkhand High Court to dispose of Prasad's criminal appeal against his conviction. — PTI

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