EDITS | Wednesday, January 13, 2010 | Email | Print | 
Time to wipe that smile off
JS Rajput
One more incident of abuse of power has stirred the conscience of the nation. The inhuman treatment that was inflicted on Ruchika Girhotra and her family by power-drunk individuals, society and its creations extinguished the very desire in her to stay alive and watch her father and brother suffer ever-increasing insult and humiliation. A 14-year-old girl is molested, turned out from the Tennis Academy and expelled from school; her brother is sent to jail on fabricated charges; her father is reduced to pleading with the police to show mercy and hand over his daughter’s body; her family is forced to move to a neighbouring State. All this happened in independent India!
The man who has been held guilty of tormenting Ruchika and her family flourished without an iota of social, professional or ethical concern even in the least measure. The judgement in the case came after 19 years — he was sentenced to six months in jail instead of two years since he is 68 years old! But he was granted bail immediately. The smirk on the face of former Director-General of Police SPS Rathore not only shocked people across the country but also left them feeling humiliated.
Since then, many more facts have come to light, raising some serious questions. How can the school, which expelled Ruchika and is guilty of being a partner in the sordid and arrogant power play, claim innocence? Why did the CBI’s senior functionary who was approached by the accused and offered favours fail to place this fact on record the very day it happened? Had all this not happened it could have changed the entire sequence of events and Ruchika may have still been alive. If insisting on transparency and summoning the courage to argue on the basis of facts were to become part of training for bureaucrats and the police, probably their hierarchical arrogance would take a back seat.
Ruchika’s tragedy is not an isolated case. So much happens in small towns and rural India that is hardly ever reported by media. An IPS officer accused of raping a woman was dismissed from service but no one bothered to arrest him for more than 13 years! How could the administration behave in this manner? Is this a manifestation of the ‘brotherhood’ at work? Should it be permitted? Why should those belonging to the divine civil and police services be treated as super human beings and be permitted to inflict their vices on the ‘subjects’ they are supposed to serve but in reality demand that they submit themselves to their whims and fancies?
Which brings us to the question: What effective steps can bring about an attitudinal change? There have been suggestions to change legal provisions. But the issue is how to prevent a person holding public office and wielding clout from behaving like a despotic monarch.
The Union Government and its top policy-makers must embark upon an objective scrutiny of the provisions contained in Articles 309 to 311 of the Constitution of India that provide ‘safeguards’ to civil servants. It is known that these are in continuation of the Government of India Act of 1935. The British had instituted these provisions to ensure that their own people remain distinct and different from the subjects they were supposed to rule and lord over. The post-independence transition was supposed to usher more than mere change of nomenclature of the civil services from ‘Imperial’ to ‘Indian’.
Unfortunately, practically nothing has changed in the approach, attitude and lifestyle of the bureaucracy (including the police) in free India. It takes ages to secure permission to initiate even cases of corruption against IAS/IPS officers and senior members of the civil services. The ‘brotherhood’ ensures protection and support, both covertly and overtly. These provisions nurse the arrogance of our officials. Needless to say, Indian civil services are among the most corrupt in the world. The bureaucracy’s nexus with politicians has become absolutely clear to the nation in the manner in which Ruchika’s family was harassed for years. A couple of similar cases have also come to light. It is now increasingly perceived that such exploitation, harassment and intimidation are more of a rule than an exception.
A very senior bureaucrat, Mr Vijai Kapoor, who has served as Secretary to the Government of India, Chief Secretary in three States and was the Lt Governor of Delhi for six years, has this to say about the provisions contained in Articles 309 to 311 of the Constitution: “These provisions were conceived at a time when our leaders were concerned that the civil services should not be under the undue influence of biased politicians and thus needed protection against reduction in rank, removal or dismissal from service except after an inquiry. Even after the inquiry, another opportunity of hearing has to be given before any penalty is imposed. Over time, the scope of these protections has been enlarged by various court rulings to such an extent that taking action against a civil servant for not discharging duties properly has become more difficult nowadays than proving a criminal case in a court of law.”
The above observation is essentially the reiteration of the general perception among all those who know the way our bureaucracy has acquired a new feudal character. It was evident when the Punjab and Haryana High Court, taking suo motu notice of the Ruchika case, made revealing observations on January 3: “One always hears the names of some police officers, some politicians and highly connected people who have either not allowed investigations or the trial to reach the decision-making stage with requisite speed. Courts cannot entirely absolve themselves of the blame.”
While the Government is seriously thinking of framing strict laws to punish those guilty of committing crimes against women, it must examine the root cause of corruption and what brings about the conviction that once somebody is in a position of power, no harm can come his or her way. We must appreciate the role of media and the Union Government’s response in this case. It is indeed a positive development that people have realised their potential to shake up things. They have successfully made the system move in cases like that of Jessica Lall, Priyadarshini Mattoo and Vikas Yadav.
The Government must now be ready to take bold decisions in a broader framework that will force the civil services to identify with the people’s concerns rather than be obsessed with their own career ambitions and material well-being. In brief, the Government must restore basic values to the civil services so that babus and policemen are more humane.
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