Patronising corruption

Patronising corruption
A culture of immunity and impunity

by B. G. Verghese

THE stink of corruption has been with us for so long that all too many
have got inured to it and treat it almost as a way of life. This spells
danger as it has increasingly spawned a culture of immunity and
impunity.

The incidence of corruption falls most harshly on the poor and the weak
and constitutes a direct and growing threat to poverty eradiation,
respect for the rule of law and justice. This has led to a very cynical
view of civic responsibility and ethical behaviour, an attitude that
insidiously poisons the idealism of youth.

The CMS-Transparency International (India) 2007 Corruption Study
released a few weeks ago makes disturbing reading.
Focussing on BPL households and 11 basic services, the finding is that a
third of BPL citizens pay bribes to gain access to services to which
they are entitled, with policing being the worst offender across almost
all states. This is a damning indictment and cuts at the root of an
inclusive society. Worse, the ailment, though diagnosed, has gone
untreated year after year. The more we inveigh against poor governance
the more we seem to hug it!

Sting operations are in vogue because the rule of law has become
problematic. The July 22 cash-for-vote episode is still under
investigation but the Supreme Court judgement in the 1998 JMM case,
grated immunity to receivers of bribes to MPs on the ground that they
are covered by parliamentary privilege.

If that be the law, why has it not been amended? It is because no MP or
political party wants to be too closely questioned about sources
funding, much of it from dubious quarters that they then patronise.

The Chief Vigilance Commissioner has over the years brought to notice
many infractions by civil servants. These have largely gone unpunished,
barring the hounding of small fry, as no officer of the rank of Joint
Secretary or above, or a minister, can be prosecuted for corruption
without the sanction of his superiors a sanction that is rarely
forthcoming.

This has bred more immunity and hence more impunity. A recent media
report has it that the government now contemplates extending this
immunity to civil servants for a prospective period of ten years after
retirement — by when we shall all be dead!
A powerful UN Convention on Corruption, that India signed on the very
last day and has now come into force, requires incorporation into
national laws to be truly operational.

Eighteen months after the event, India has not even begun this process
and so cannot seek extradition of charged suspects, freezing of public
or private funds secreted abroad, investigation of money-laundering
trails and so forth.
No one seems interested in vigorous and effective action though they
plead lack of powers and cooperation. Why? Because possessing the power
to upset shared apple carts might be inconvenient.

Most blatant of all has been the determined resolve on the part of the
Centre and most state governments not to allow police reforms to proceed
despite innumerable commissions and committees of the best and brightest
in the country, a wide consensus at that level and a ringing Supreme
Court directive for their time-bound implementation.

The Centre says it is for reform but the Home Ministry, which seems
totally bereft of any leadership on any issue, has been totally supine,
pleading that the police (and intelligence) are state subjects in which
it cannot intervene. This absurd fig-leaf is unconvincing as the Centre
has not really tried and has not cared to implement these reforms in
Delhi and other Union Territories directly under its charge.

With the police and intelligence agencies utterly politicised, and the
criminalisation of politics and the politicisation of crime, the
criminal justice system has broken down, resulting in resort to
extra-judicial remedies. Judicial virtue has also been besmirched.

The CBI and intelligence agencies have not been immune from political
interference. We are unable to tackle terror more effectively for the
same reason - internal rot. There is abhorrence for strong laws as these
have been misdirected against the poor and the weak. One does not want a
national security state or the derogation of human rights.

The larger problem, however, is that even less draconian laws would be
effective if stringently applied. But how can this happen when the
instruments have been politically blunted?

There is now evidence emerging that the latest bomb blasts in Ahmedabad,
Bangalore, Jaipur and elsewhere are in part possible revenge killings
for Gujarat-2002.

If true, this would be barbarous and indicate the revival of private
vendettas because the state is effete. But recall Narendra Modi's
heinous message broadcast when the Gujarat pogrom erupted: "If you seek
peace, don't ask for justice". Are some of those desperately aggrieved
now saying, "There can be no peace unless there is justice"?

The Gujarat police was subject to gross political pressure and the rule
of law and elementary justice subverted, this dastardly conduct being
defended by some of the highest in the land. One cannot play with fire.
Commissions of inquiry too have become dubious enterprises. Witness the
47th extension granted to the Liberhan Commission inquiring into the
1992 Babri mosque demolition — in God's name why? — and the
fifth extension given to the Nanavati Commission in Gujarat.

We must act, and act now, to save the Republic.