The Supreme Court Acts to Strengthen the Rule of Law in Delhi

The tug of war, between the authority of Law on the one hand and the shrill forces of lawlessness and money in the form of a few thousand traders and their corrupt and unprincipled benefactors on the other, reached yet another landmark stage yesterday.

The Supreme Court of India again struck a blow for the countless law-abiding and silently suffering residents of Delhi by asking the big-fish (rich and powerful) culprits to arrange for 'adequate' parking facilities near their establishments before seeking their reopening.

This brings certain thoughts to my mind.

One, just what do the building laws and bye-laws say on the question of responsibilities, duties and legal liabilities of owners or users of commercial establishments (expected to be located in commercial areas) in the city as regards security, parking, toilets, fire safety, facilities for the women, children and handicapped? One hopes the Court was informed of all these requirements by the concerned parties.

Two, in case the said laws - being dated vis-a-vis the requirements of rapidly growing Delhi - are wanting in any manner, is it too much to expect that the MLAs of Delhi explain to their voters the reasons that have kept them from performing their primary legislative duty in this crucial area all this time? The people of Delhi have witnessed, thanks to our Media, just how aggressively and vociferously these representatives of ours were championing the 'cause' of all these illegal business establishments. And shouldn't they at least now commence the task in view of the preparations already afoot ahead of the Olympic Games of 2010?

Three, to the extent the laws actually exist and are in force, shouldn't the permanent bureaucracy, specifically charged with the duty of enforcing them do so at least now?

As the very presence of a commercial establishment in a residential area is illegal, there is no apparent reason why the axe should fall only on business establishments and not on the guilty politicians and bureaucrats. In fact, ethics demand that they be given a more rigorous (exemplary) punishment for consistently ignoring to perform their duty all those years when the illegal structures came up, grew and multiplied to create the ever-increasing chaos and disturbance for millions of innocent citizens.

Presumably the monitoring committees appointed by the court have taken into consideration the basic interests and rights of the numerous innocent citizens who had done no wrong by choosing to have their houses in the residential colonies in which these illegal business establishments came up. Or did the committes succumb to the common Indian tendency of ignoring the pain, tears and misery brought upon the victim of a crime and of rushing, instead, to assuage the 'misery' of the crime's perpetrator with bountiful misplaced sympathy?

One hopes the more resourceful and public-spirited citizens of Delhi will not allow the main lesson of Uphaar fire tragedy to be forgotten, not even if the memory span of the average Delhiite doesn't exceed a week! The lesson is simply that compromise with the rules meant for the benefit and safety of society must never be tolerated.

Vigilance Week Celebrations... and our New Generations

This post is about two somewhat related topics of current interest.

I. Vigilance Week.

The country's central government, and various public-funded bodies under it, are in the midst of celebrating the Vigilance Week - an annual event focused at generating awareness amongst their employees about the need to be honest, dedicated and ever-vigilant against corrupt practices, etc.

The country's topmost, and high profile, body that looks after the Vigilance function is the CVC , or the Central Vigilance Commission.

Besides keeping an eye over the errant public servants, the CVC also oversees the much more high-profile CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), which is the premier investigation agency of the country. The Indian public in places much faith in its professionalism and impartiality as compared to all other government-run agencies, including the police.

So far so good; but I certainly wonder whether CVC, the apex organization created to fight corruption, has really been effective in its mission. Honest answers to the following questions may reveal the reasons.

• With India's quasi-federal Constitution, the Central government has important roles - direct, and also as a role-model - to play in national affairs. Would it be wrong to conclude, therefore, that India's dismal record on corruption year after year means that our very system of governance has failed in its core duty?

• Has the CVC, being the apex body for tackling corruption in central institutions, ever got any professional and scientific surveys undertaken to determine the causes behind the stupendous growth of corruption in the country during the fast five-plus decades and to plan an effective roadmap to curb the same? The Indian public deserves to know this.

• Knowing fully well the Indian "system" where everything leaks, and reposing trust in authorities is a risky venture for anyone but the well-healed or well-connected, why did the CVC under Mr. Vittal, its erstwhile IAS head, decide to outrightly reject any anonymous complaints? Was that the ONLY way the CVC had to tackle the 'potential' misuse of this otherwise welcome and liberal measure? Or was it done to actually shield the corrupt, who are invariably powerful as well???

• Sheer common sense would dictate that the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of any organization must be truly independent - not only de facto but also de jure - so that (s)he is able to do justice to her/his role. (S)he must also be under severest accountability so that (s)he doesn't misuse her/his powers to harass someone, or to extract revenge, or to amass wealth by illegal means. Why is it then that for years (and even NOW!) posts of CVOs and VOs have been allowed to be filled in certain organizations, including those once headed by Mr. Vittal himself, recklessly flouting this common sense rule? Was (and is) it attributable to ignorance, ineptitude, hypocrisy, or a tendency to turn the Nelson's eye when faced with powerful vested interests?
  

[Note: The website of the CVC is at the following address: http://www.cvc.nic.in/]


II. The New Generation.

While surfing the Internet I recently came across some interesting revelations about how our younger generation is busy doing self-service, and in the process exporting our heritage of corrupt practices, beyond Indian boundaries. You may like to go through the initial few pages at the link cited at the end of this piece.

Incidentally, some of the comments at the site have made a reference to one of the States of India, and I tend to agree with it. My own experience has been that there is a great degree of parochialism exhibited by the people of certain States, while even in India. I have personally been witness to quite a few instances of networking and behind-the-scenes-lobbying done by, for, and amongst, persons belonging to the State in question. And well, habits don't respect boundaries, do they?

The cited link: https://lists.cs.columbia.edu/pipermail/ornet/2006-September.txt

Reform Efforts Show Result

There is some real good news at last:

Over the past one year, India has improved its ranking on the Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 88 to 70. It is being attributed to some of the Government's initiatives, in particular the Right to Information Act.

It just shows that if public policies are framed on good governance values, and sincerely implemented, the entire country stands to gain... over time, naturally.

At the same time, one cannot ignore the fact that we have a really long way to go before we can even think of resting. The recent shameful news about "Indians" getting the top rank in corruption in exports is still fresh in our minds. It is time our various chambers of commerce, export promotion bodies, and above all the Government, started the clean-up act in this important area without any further delay, lest the selfish misdeeds of some of our countrymen cause a lasting damage to the entire country's reputation and hurt us all, and also our economy, in the process.

Why do so many of us chose to never imbibe the simple lesson taught to all of us in school that honesty is the best policy? Isn't it because hypocrisy has been ruling in and around our lives??

The Supreme Court Acts Superbly

Yesterday's decision of the Supreme Court on the question of continuation of sealing of Delhi traders' unauthorized structures certainly came as a welcome relief.

Against the backdrop of escalating threats by belligerant and irresponsible traders, duly egged on by politicians of all hues for their selfish ends, and a succumbing- whimpering Government, one was wondering whether the Court would be able to withstand the immense pressure and blackmail that it was being subjected to.

Kudos to the (truly) Honourable Judges for keeping our faith in Indian Judiciary alive. One feels reassured that the future of democracy - which cannot rest on any foundation other than that of Rule of Law - is in safe hands as long as our Judiciary is manned by persons of such sterling character and courage. May our Constitution, and the values it cherishes, live long!!