Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) In a major step in its anti-corruption drive, India has completed the ratification of the UN convention against corruption, six years after it signed the charter.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Thursday announced the ratification of the UN charter.

‘I have been informed that India has completed the process of ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. The completion of this ratification process has been under active consideration since September 2010,” Manmohan Singh said in a statement here before his departure for Kabul.

The ratification, which comes soon after the Anna Hazare-led movement against corruption, will help the country tackle the problems of black money and corruption through legislative and administrative measures, experts say.

Following the ratification, the government will be able to formally request for the return of illicit money and assets stashed away to foreign countries, they added.

India had signed the UN convention six years ago. In all, 140 countries have signed the convention.

As the UN convention, a member country shall “”onsider adopting appropriate legislative and administrative measures, consistent with the objectives of this Convention and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, to prescribe criteria concerning candidature for and election to public office.”"

It also prescribes disciplinary or other measures against public officials who violate the codes or standards established in accordance with this article.

“A group of ministers has been overseeing the ratification process”, Manmohan Singh said

“The ratification of the UN convention is a reaffirmation of our government’s commitment to fight corruption and to undertake vigorously administrative and legal reforms to enable our law-enforcement agencies to recover the illicit assets stolen by corrupt practices,” the prime minister said.