(This article was originally published in a Delhi based Law Journal ‘AB INITIO’)
the
prelude
Corruption,
a phenomenon with copious demonic physiognomy has transmutated into the
sub-culture of the populace in all walk and stroke of life. Corruptions sordid
stain in the corpuscles of the humanity is permeating in more than the pace of
malignant carcinoma. The miasma has finally desecrated and polluted the
tabernacle of heavenly honesty, sacrosanct sincerity and ethical morality.
The
ramification of the ‘evil corruption’ has influenced all the root and route of
the countries machinery becoming grease for the smooth lubrication of the
system.
It seems as if everything in our
land is purchasable if
one has got the money, material and man with legal and illegal insight. The
price of justice, value of truth and appeal of decency has eroded and faded
away paving way to become a hi-tech profession of cheating, corruption and
deception which the ‘Croesus’ employ to get anything and everything they crave
for.
Those
days have gone when the corruption was for the ‘need’ but now a day it’s in ‘greed’.
The cupidity in lakhs and crores confined to local level has altered into
currency of millions and billions in the global pulpit with culprit as the top
echelon, elite entrepreneurs, polite less politicians, administrators, bureaucrats
and businessmen assembling the poignant poor, downhearted downtrodden and under
developed countries as the victims. Corruption became borderless and boundless
with a transnational language and a phonetics understood by all the criminals,
terrorists and traders of crooked raison d'être.
In
almost every facet of our diurnal activities sleaze come up in chameleonic avatars
whether it be in the place of electricity, telephone office, hospital,
educational institutions, police stations etc. Torrid corruptions takes place
mostly in upstream than in the down stream which warp elementary decisions
about policies, projects and programs leading the committers to promotion
rather to prison.
Corrupt gains by the
corrupt men instead of plowing back to domestic production and investment are
smuggled out to safe heavens abroad implying a trait that corruption got wings
and not wheels. Inevitability
has befallen to prune not only wings and limbs but the whole anatomy of
corruption.
The
sheer dimension of corruption reroute the direction of resources from the
descamisado to the ‘Dracula minded’ affluent creed, increasing the price tag of
running commerce and distorting public expenditure. Listening to all these
sagas of corruption and perceiving the sages of corruption, the watch dogs CBI,
CVC and Lok Ayukt simply bark without biting due to their own compulsions and confines.
And ‘we the people’ overlook the scams and scandals with the same haste of its exposure
devoid of doing anything needful. It’s high time to preach, ponder, and
practice positively.
Niduses
of corruption
An
assortment of reasons can be attributed for the dispersion of cancerous corruption
in our civilization. This is an epoch where the whole congregation craves to
procure and purchase whatever substance or object one discern counting even
reveries and fantasies for which satchel of spondulicks is required. For dousing
the inferno of avidity and avarice, gratifying the fancy, living in coziness
and accomplishing elevated socio-economic status all and sundry voyage in the
crooked cruise with the culturally instilled instinct and insight of ‘more
material and money’. Extra the wealth one makes supplementary the dipsomania
for opulence and ostentation. That’s why
corruption is said to be sedative and addictive
.
There is a sort of social acceptance of
corruption and the masses are conditioned to the chemistry of corrupt carry outs
. Few
decades back corruption was reckoned as illegal, unethical
and
unearthly utterance, but now corruption is mere illegal in the filth blemished
folio of decrepit law manuscript volumes and is not considered as somewhat
unethical because the criterion of ethics has modulated stupendously as time
voted for and transpired as an acknowledged quisling.
One
or two elections post-independence were contested on the epithet of policies, programs,
convictions and commitment with men of integrity, accountability, education and
erudition. The percentage in quality and quantity of such persons abated and
superseded with the key factors like obtrusive hypocrisy, camouflage agenda,
communal and caste consideration. Politicians now a days crusade with
pontificating promise, concession enticement, void vocalization and
visualization forgetting norms of divine democracy and focusing the enchantment
of ephemeral moneyocracy. In succinct, elections come under the label of prime
etiology of corruption compelling the statesmen to brood over.
In
the bygone years the element of ignominy and inquietude predominated. Now it no
longer vegetates even if a felony is committed. They evaporated over the period
of time as the consciousness of the impulse ‘physical survival’ gained priority
in the globe of Darwinism. Correspondingly, the aged colossal ideas of probity,
sincerity, service and sacrifice are regarded as anachronistic which have
dilapidated presently into a hovel of scatterbrains syllable.
Amidst
presto life, bustling schedules, quantum quandaries and quagmires, the citizens
have no time left to heed or to quest for redress mechanism against corruption
letting the weeds to mature in their own peninsula. Even the onerous authority
is least concerned. How true are Shiv
Kera’s
words
that societies are not destroyed by the
activities of rascals, but by inactivity of good people? Nimbus of
ebullition and revulsion against graft and bribery has changed into an
auspicious climate for the embryo of corruption to germinate and bloom. That’s
why a wild garden of weed is in the increase.
Magnitude
of the brandishing population is also a nidus of corruption. The short supply
of the basic goods has ensued in boogie of corruption on the rostrum of
scarcity and impecuniosities. Evading of
paying the hefty taxes and the smidgen oblation to officials
which is one of the corruptions metachrosis are evident from the realm of
customs, sales tax, electricity, telephone bills etc. All these contribute to
form a huge budget of corruption.
Manipulation
of opportunity, exploitation of government funds, amassing tolls through
activists under overt and covet duress, earning illegal commissions from
foreign companies by signing contracts with them on behalf of the government
etc are the exercises done by the brutish politicians who actually are more
precarious than the don Daud and brigand Verrapan. In addition to this a major reason is the cosmic discretionary
powers clothed by the politicians and bureaucrats over the procreation,
proliferation and interpretation of counter-productive regulations
.
Self-aggrandizement and self-interest is the precept in the place of national
interest, security and secularity which is an important point to be noted for
the causation of corruption.
The
omega option and the edifice of justice, ‘The judiciary’ in our country has
also came under the penumbra of non accountability despite of its enjoyment
from exceptional constitutional privilege to formidable weaponry of contempt of
court for silencing its critics. A judiciary ‘neither with fear and favor nor
with taste and temptation’ has slipped into the cobweb of the sullied spiders
due to the nexus with the underworld, business mogul and other influential
sections of the society. What a stigma? Now whom can we trust and whom to
forgive?
Elixir
to extirpate
Corruption,
a poison which should be diluted if not utterly obliterated, with some sort of
potion and the subsequent paragraphs is crammed with such antidotes.
Circumscribing
the role and docking the discretionary powers of curbstone ministers, getting
down the bureaucrats from the ivory towers and leaving the application of major
policies, programs and polemics to an independent commission or self-reliant
authority or trustful executive body assigned on the basis of their
professional dossier will definitely boil down the augmenting corruption
volume. It is indispensable to inject gramicidin of effectiveness, receptiveness,
courteousness, accountability and altruism to the body of corrupt and
contaminated officials of the state machinery. To accentuate on judiciary, it
must deliver virtuous justice and judgment without fear or favor, affection or
aversion and threats or temptation. Equal justice beyond pressure or purchase
is the artifact; easy access to the humblest and hated along with expeditious finality
devoid of exorbitant appellate procrastination is the process anticipated.
India has
witnessed more than ten general elections which endured many ailments needing
an ointment of election reforms. Bullet instead of ballot; shooting, looting
and booth capturing instead of voting and polling; contesting elections by any
amateurish person or malefactor is the history and story hitherto. Reformation
in auditing accounts punctually and cataloguing income-tax returns by the
political parties, embargo on persons with criminal muniment from contesting
elections and puritanical enforcement of statutory sine qua non of code of
conduct are brought in. State funding of elections is yet another efficacious
modus operandi that will enable political parties to secure electoral funds in
a bona fide manner and also redound to free and fair elections, eliciting men
of integrity in legislatures, equalizing of manifold political parties election
disbursement and so forth.
Formation
of stalwart local bodies, independent of the government is an egress from the Gehenna
of corruption which can furnish meteoric justice with economical expenses. Lok Adalats,
Lok pals, electricity and telephone Adalats, ombudsmen for banks and other
tribunals etc have to be case-hardened and accoutered to look into the enigma
of politico-administrative corruption. They have to be given more potentiality
and puissance to establish an extensive network of administration. The central
bodies like CVC, CBI etc should investigate cases of misconduct,
misappropriation or misgovernment of MPs, ministers and public servants
employed at different undertakings. Autonomy should be given to these bodies to
sift into cases, irrespective of a person’s power, privilege, position or
possession.
It is honored wisdom that diffusion of
information curbs discretionary and discriminatory practices that direct to
corruption
. Besides
administrative transparency ameliorating efficiency, endowment through right to
information is an effective esplanade to help citizens combat the torment of
corruption. Further, politicians, military officers, bureaucrats, judges etc
must be required to produce detailed statements about their tax returns and
possessions which followed by fleet inquisition and investigation against
corrupt, will have a deterrent denouement.
A dire necessity has befallen to create
public action groups or ‘watch squad’ against all social evils including
corruption
which
should be positively activated and animated. Awareness campaign and cavalcade,
speeches and seminars strewing cognizance and consciousness about the root and
rotten fruit of corruption could clog the frowzy arroyo of graft, flowing
across our terra firma. Mobilizing the
people in proper channel in opposition to corruption by the religious
organization and socialization of value-oriented existence by family, parents,
schools, teachers
and
epic citizens of humanity can succor in umpteen ways.
Stringent
and sharp punishment, instantaneous prosecution and immediate incarceration of
the blameworthy caught red handed etc should be the lasso to hobble the corrupt
cattle by the legal vaquero.
Appendage
The annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI)
2003, published by
Transparency
International (TI),
a private anti-corruption
watchdog body set up in 1993, reports that Corruption was "omnipresent and
omnipotent" in Bangladesh, Nigeria, Haiti, Panama, Burma, Tajikistan,
Georgia, Cameroon, Azerbaijan, Angola, Kenya, India and Indonesia. At the top
of the list - which measures the perception of corruption among both locals and
expatriates - countries such as Finland,
Denmark, Iceland, and New Zealand remain the hygienic
places having the least corruption. Another survey of foreign businessmen
showed Indonesia as the most corrupt country in Asia for the third year
running, followed by India and Vietnam
. Considering
this, to be an Indian, are we not embarrassed?
UN
launched new global convention against graft on December 9th 2003
and henceforth designated December 9th as International
Anti-Corruption Day. That’s well and good. But a need has came to celebrate the
whole three sixty five days of a year as international anti-corruption day
because of the immense gravity of corruption and to vamoose from its gravity
the utmost and ultra escape velocity seems to be a futile attempt.
Corruption
emasculates the soul and soil of democracy, Upanishad of constitutional
provisions, ethical values, rule of law and jurisprudential justice
jeopardizing sustainable escalation in economy and environment. To risk, a ‘sound
ethics’ in civic service is indispensable for the victory of any egalitarian democratic
setup. Along with it there must be accountability and esteem for the law from
the side of the judiciary to lift its iconic stature and to combat the source
and strength of corruption. This is reflected from the dictum of the majority
decision (J.S.Verma, J dissenting) of the Apex Court in
K. Veera Swami V.
Union of
India (1991) 3 SCC 655, where he states that “the existing Court system is efficient but it has to derive its
strength from those who man it and whose adequate extent of knowledge,
experience, involvement and determination alone can effectively curb the evil
of corruption”
.
Everything
has got bounds and ends. There is a saturation point for any activity beyond
which no more of something can be absorbed or accepted. However, lust for
fardel of simoleon, people has no culmination. The extra miles a person travel n
the corrupt highway, the additional corruptive milestones he covers, more the temptation
landscape he perceives and numerous distractive opportunities he opts for. Jesus Christ said that the pursuit of knowledge is like imbibing briny
sea water by a thirsty man, the more he imbibes the sea water the more he gets
thirsty. Perhaps crave for wealth is also like consuming seawater, the more
wealth a person gathers the more voracious and unquenchable parchedness. Can’t
we provide the normal water? Otherwise our society will be submerged amidst the
torrential sea water and corrupt parasites seeking on it.
In
a non-corrupt season only the blossom of parity blooms spreading the redolence
of prosperity in the earth’s herbary. If the whole populace be the
horticulturists cultivating such a garden then the pulchritude of those sublime
flowers of purity can be realized and relished by all. Otherwise a revolution
should be brought out by the people as whole on anti-corrupt sovereignty
establishing a novel corrupt-free jurisprudence and ju-jitsu. Something of
these sorts must be done or else solemnity of honesty, parity and unanimity
will sooner or later be the martyr. It’s now or never.
Corrupt people make a corrupt society and
corrupt society preaches corrupt culture
.
This prolongs into the eternity. In phraseology about the phenomenon, it can be
said that every infant is born into a
corrupt society feeding on the corrupt milk of a corrupt mother
.
Isn’t this bringing some sort of feeling in your mind? If yes, then hoist your
voice and noise for the exorcising of the devilish corruption and go ahead.
References
- ‘Perceptions’-S.K.
Kulkarni
- ‘crime and
corruption to good governance’- Subash C. Kashyap
- ‘society and
politics’, anti-corruption laws in India: need for a new
legislation-D.D. Takur
- ‘Crime and
society: current issues and trends’-James Wadakanchery
- competition
success review, September 2003
- competition
success review, October 2003
- India Today, March3, 2003
- India Today, September 2, 2003
- India Today, December 1, 2003
- India Today, January 20, 2003
- India Today, July 14, 2003
- India Today, May 6, 2002
- India Today, September 3, 2001
- (2004)1
Supreme court cases (J)
- ‘West's Blind
Eye Opens to Third World Corruption’ By
Victoria Brittain-The Guardian July 13, 2000
- ‘Slow Progress
in War on Corruption’ By Jeremy Scott-Joynt, October 15, 2001
- ‘Corruption
'rife' in poorest countries’ , BBC (Transnational),October 8,2003
- ‘Corruption:
Story Without End’ by M.V. Kamath: Organiser, The Moving Finger
Writes, November 23, 2003
- ‘Debts, Bribes
and Corruption’ by M.V. Kamat Organiser, The Moving Finger Writes,
February 23, 2003
- , ‘Strengthening the Court System to Combat Corruption’-Justice
R. K. Abichandani
- 'Corruption in
urban services on a decline' By: PTI ,January 19, 2004
- ‘Liberalizing
governance’ by Mr. Sharat Kumar
‘Perceptions’-S.K. Kulkarni
