Indian democratic system, however wanting, has come to have enough openness to ensure that scams and scandals tumble out of the cupboard sooner or later. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's purchase of the Bofors guns, the manipulations in the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket or the sale by central minister A Raja of 2G spectrum, the mobile bands, are some recent stories of corruption.
The public is aghast over the discourses. The media have criticized them endlessly. Parliament has registered its protest through walkouts or long debates. Yet no head has rolled. No minister has ever been prosecuted. It is business as usual after a scam has hit the headlines.
Two main reasons for lack of action are the absence of morality in politics and the government's control over the investigating and prosecuting agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The shame for having been caught with the hand in tiller is no more deterring. The truth is the casualty. The guilty goes scot-free. Rajiv Gandhi was directly involved in the pay-off. He manoeuvred the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) which gave the verdict that no kickbacks were received. The successive Congress governments have seen to it that Ottavio Quattrocchui, an Italian, is not punished although his role as a middleman has been proved beyond any doubt.
The scam of IPL may well be the biggest ever known in sport, running into millions of dollars. Only a tip of the iceberg has come out at the first peeling of the onion which has numerous layers. Too many politicians and too powerful ministers are involved, both at the state and central levels. A junior minister of External Affairs has gone because of his own discretion after initiating a process during the bidding which brought the IPL scandal in open.
The case of Telecommunications Minister Raja who cost the exchequer a whopping figure of Rs 64,000 crore in selling mobile bands was beginning to be concretized when income tax officers probing the scandal were transferred. They had hit upon another scandal, the spectrum 3G which is yet to come to light fully. This is when Raja's mentor, Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi, came to Delhi and met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Raja is a member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazgham (DMK) which is crucial to the life of the Manmohan Singh government.
Karunanidhi made it clear even before he left Chennai that he would see to it that no harm came to Raja. It has happened exactly that way. Raja continues to stay in the cabinet that Singh with the highest reputation of honesty heads. The tax probe has been stopped without giving any reasons.
The CBI which conducted the inquiry is a department of the government of India. So there is no question of its going against orders from the above. This is the second reason why a probe against the high-ups is nothing but perfunctory. Even if the agency unearths something incriminating, it has to give in to political pressures.
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| Telecommunications Minister Raja |
The CBI's long effort against the UP chief minister on the one hand and former chief ministers of UP and Bihar on the other was stalled by ruling Congress party a few days ago to save the government from defeat on the cut motion in the Lok Sabha. The CBI diluted the case of disproportionate assets against Mayawati who commanded 21 members in the lower house. Affidavits by the CBI in the case of Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Sinmgh Yadav on disproportionate assets case was changed to ensure his support. The CBI weakened disproportionate assets case against Lalu Prasad Yadav by transferring the public prosecutor. The Income Tax department, another setup at the mercy of the government, was pressured on Lalu's cases. Former CBI director Joginder Singh has told me how he was asked not to pursue Lalu's cases.
No doubt, the government's credibility has been hit, but so has been that of the CBI which has many honest and distinguished officers. When the BJP was in power, deputy prime minister L.K. Advani had the retiring CBI director appointed as member of the Human Rights Commission for the "services he had rendered" to him by not pursuing the case of Babri masjid's demolition against him. Had the CBI been put under the charge of Central Vigilance Commission, an autonomous body, things would have improved. There was such a proposal before the Home Ministry's standing committee of parliament. But the CBI itself objected to it. The agency's reputation can be retrieved if it is made responsible to parliament directly, not through the government.
The centre has also re-armed itself with the authority to sanction not only prosecutions but even probes against officers with the rank of joint secretary and above. The Supreme Court rejected some years ago the anomaly in seeking permission for joint secretary and above and not for officers of lower rank. Joint secretaries and secretaries are supposed to know the mind of ministers and act according to the unwritten orders. It is apparent that a similar law, pending the scrutiny of the Supreme Court, has been enacted so that senior officers are not arraigned before the court for their wrongdoings which are normally at the instance of political leaders.
The fact is that morality has ceased to count in political affairs because power is all that matters to parties. They have neither the desire nor the inclination to act according to what is right. Without that realization India may stay democratic but it will be only to the extent of electing members and forming governments by the majority. Once the polls are over, the nation is back to the non-principled governance. Scams or scandals are natural fallouts.
The fact is that there is no sensitivity either in the government or in political parties to follow principles or norms. The democratic system has become an instrument to commit illegal acts and to suppress those who protest for the rights of people. Unfortunately, power has come to be considered an opportunity to make money by politicians for themselves and the party they represent. After all, the parties have to keep their flocks together and, on the top of it, meet the ever increasing poll expenses.
There is no stir, no protest. The intelligentsia has become part of the system. They are horrified over the disclosure of corruption at high quarters. But they are too comfortable to risk their luxurious living. Silence has proved to be more beneficial than the bravado to oppose. |
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