Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
The Act Before and After 2018, and Section 7 in Particular
Anyone working on a corruption matter must know which version of the statute applies, because the amendment of 26 July 2018 did not merely add provisions; it substituted the central offence and deleted the most used limb of criminal misconduct. An act done before that date is tried under the law as it then stood, by force of Article 20(1) of the Constitution, so the old sections continue to govern a large body of pending cases. This topic sets the two versions side by side and then examines Section 7, which was rebuilt rather than adjusted.
1. The Act as a Whole
Provision | Before 2018 | After 2018 |
|---|---|---|
Section 7 | A public servant accepting or obtaining gratification other than legal remuneration as a motive or reward for doing or forbearing to do an official act, or for showing favour or disfavour; imprisonment of six months to five years and fine | A public servant obtaining, accepting or attempting to obtain an undue advantage with intent to perform a public duty improperly or dishonestly, or as a reward for such performance; imprisonment of three to seven years and fine |
Section 7A | No equivalent | Taking an undue advantage to influence a public servant by corrupt or illegal means or by personal influence; three to seven years |
Sections 8 and 9 | Taking gratification to influence a public servant by corrupt means, and by exercise of personal influence | Section 8 makes bribe giving a substantive offence; Section 9 creates liability of commercial organisations |
Section 10 | Punishment for abetment by a public servant of the offences in Sections 8 and 9 | Liability of a director, manager, secretary or other officer of a commercial organisation on consent or connivance |
Section 13(1) | Five clauses, including clause (d) covering pecuniary advantage obtained by corrupt or illegal means, by abuse of position, or without any public interest, and clause (e) on disproportionate assets | Two clauses only: misappropriation of entrusted property, and intentional illicit enrichment |
Section 17A | No equivalent | Prior approval required before any enquiry or investigation into an offence relatable to an official decision or recommendation |
Section 19 | Sanction required for a serving public servant | Extended to former public servants; timeline of three months, extendable by one; permission required for a private complaint |
Section 20 | Presumption on proof of acceptance of gratification | Presumption recast around undue advantage, and confined to Sections 7 and 11 |
Section 24 | A statement by a bribe giver in a prosecution of the public servant could not be used to prosecute him | Omitted; replaced by the narrow protection in the proviso to Section 8 |
Trial | No statutory outer limit | Section 4(4): day to day trial, to be concluded within two years, and not beyond four years in all |
2. Section 7 Before the Amendment
The old Section 7 punished a public servant, or a person expecting to be a public servant, who accepted or obtained, or agreed to accept or attempted to obtain, from any person, for himself or for any other person, any gratification whatever other than legal remuneration, as a motive or reward for doing or forbearing to do any official act, or for showing or forbearing to show favour or disfavour to any person, or for rendering or attempting to render any service or disservice to any person, in the exercise of his official functions.
- The ingredients. A public servant; acceptance, obtaining, agreement to accept or attempt to obtain; gratification other than legal remuneration; and a connection with an official act or with favour, disfavour, service or disservice in the exercise of official functions.
- The link required. The gratification had to be a motive or reward in respect of an official act. It was immaterial whether the act was in fact done, whether the public servant was in a position to do it, or whether it was proper or improper.
- Punishment. Imprisonment of not less than six months, extending to five years, and fine.
3. Section 7 After the Amendment
The substituted section punishes a public servant who obtains, accepts or attempts to obtain an undue advantage with the intention to perform or cause performance of a public duty improperly or dishonestly, or to forbear or cause forbearance to perform such duty; or who obtains, accepts or attempts to obtain an undue advantage as a reward for such improper or dishonest performance or forbearance; or who performs or induces another public servant to perform a public duty improperly or dishonestly, or to forbear, in anticipation of or in consequence of accepting an undue advantage. The punishment is imprisonment of not less than three years, extending to seven years, and fine.
⚠ The four changes in Section 7 that matter First, gratification other than legal remuneration is replaced by undue advantage as defined in Section 2(d), which carries the same meaning but is now a defined term running through the whole of the Act. Second, the connecting link is no longer an official act but the improper or dishonest performance of a public duty, which the prosecution must identify. Third, the third limb is new: a public servant who actually performs improperly in anticipation of or in consequence of an undue advantage is caught, which covers the case where the payment is established only after the act. Fourth, the minimum sentence rose from six months to three years and the maximum from five years to seven, so an act done before 26 July 2018 cannot attract the higher punishment. |
4. Improper Performance
The expression is the pivot of the new section, and it is explained in the Act by reference to the expectation of good faith, impartiality and trust attaching to the performance of a public duty. Performance is improper where it breaches that expectation, and a failure to perform may itself be improper. Two practical points follow. The prosecution must identify the public duty and say in what respect its performance was, or was to be, improper, which the old section did not require. And the objection that the act the official was paid to do was one he was in any event bound to do is not an answer, because accepting payment for doing one's duty is itself a breach of the expectation of good faith and impartiality.
5. Which Version Applies
- Substantive offences. Article 20(1) forbids conviction for an offence except for violation of a law in force at the time of the act, and forbids a penalty greater than that which might have been inflicted under the law in force at that time. An act done before 26 July 2018 is therefore charged under the old provisions and cannot attract the enhanced punishment.
- Deleted provisions. Conduct that constituted criminal misconduct under the old Section 13(1)(d) remains punishable if committed before the amendment, since the repeal does not obliterate the liability already incurred; conduct after the amendment is not an offence under that clause because the clause no longer exists.
- Procedural provisions. Procedure is ordinarily retrospective, so the trial of an old offence follows the current procedure. The contested question has been whether Section 17A applies to conduct predating it, on which the courts have differed, and the position should be checked before it is relied on.
- The presumption. Section 20 as recast applies to trials of the offences it names, and the older form governs prosecutions under the old sections.
6. Related Topics and Provisions
Topic or provision | Connection |
|---|---|
The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 | The provisions as substituted |
Major Changes Introduced by the 2018 Amendment | The analysis and the criticisms |
Bribery: Meaning and Essential Elements | Demand, acceptance and improper performance |
Sections 2(d), 7, 7A, 8, 13, 17A, 19 and 20, Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 | The provisions compared |
Article 20(1), Constitution of India | Which version of the statute applies |