New Delhi: The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiring into last year's stock scam has hauled up the Reserve Bank of India for being slow in suggesting legal changes to inculcate fear among perpetrators of financial crimes.

"It is disheartening to note that the Reserve Bank of India has been rather slow in suggesting various amendments to the existing Acts with a view to make the existing Laws more strong and punitive in nature," said the draft report of the JPC, which is to be finalised soon.

Stating that RBI Governor Bimal Jalan had conceded during the hearing that at present our system is "non-functional", the JPC said it looked the existing Laws do not inculcate a sense of fear among the wrongdoers.

The JPC, inquiring into 2001 stock scam and the temporary freeze on Unit Trust of India (UTI)'s flagship scheme US-64, also pulled up the apex bank for not effecting some of the suggestions relating to the banking sector made by the previous JPC set in 1992.

"The amendments to the Public Debt Act, 1944, for instance, which were reported to be under process as per the action-taken replies furnished way back in 1994 in response to the recommendations of the earlier JPC, are yet to be effected," the report said.

The Committee said though some of the penal provisions under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, in the case of commercial banks and as applicable to the co-operative banks, are required to be enhanced further, the proposal to this effect has not been mooted by the RBI.

PTI