The new jail birds?

 

 

For a moment, the issue hung in balance. Exposed and cornered, the rapscallion of a Chief Minister Amrish Puri looked all set to fire his revolver at the upstart and make-believe Chief Minister Anil Kapoor. Will evil win this humdinger of a battle against good? Of course not! It was a Bollywood movie (Nayak) and a fusillade of bullets from the good cops shred the bad Amrish Puri to pieces. As the credits roll, the aisle in the movie theatre is abuzz with gossip about how unconventional methods are needed to rout India’s venal and corrupt politicians. The claps of viewers as the bullets thud into Puri’s body still resound. More than a decade ago, audiences had erupted into cathartic paroxysms of applause in the movie Inquilab when Amitabh Bachchan guns down the entire Cabinet of a newly-elected state government.

Fantasies are often rooted in reality and you really can’t blame the average Indian for nursing violent ones about Indian politicians. For decades, they have managed to subvert democratic institutions to loot, plunder, rob, kidnap maim and murder and get away with it. And, it looked as if the matter was getting out of the hand with fulltime criminals replacing their patron politicians as legislators, ministers and how could we forget, Parliamentarians.

That was, till 5 December 2006. On that day, as a chilly Himalayan breeze swept across Lutyen’s Delhi, a veritable firestorm of indignation and disbelief swept across the political establishment not just in the Capital, but across India. Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren was handed out a life sentence by a Delhi court for conspiring to kill his secretary Shashinath Jha. Jha was abducted from Delhi and killed near Ranchi in 1994 because he apparently wanted a share of the bribe that Soren had taken to save the then P. V. Narasimha Rao government from a no-confidence motion. Delhi was well and truly agog: has a sitting Cabinet Minister ever been convicted? If Soren can be packed behind bars for life, what about the other top political leaders facing charges of corruption and serious crime? Even before the political class could recover, the Supreme Court dealt another body blow by pronouncing that investigative bodies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) do not need the sanction of authorities to prosecute ministers, legislators and high officials who indulge in corruption. This thunderbolt came while it was dismissing a petition filed by lawyers of Lalu and Rabri Yadav who claimed that the CBI cases against their clients had no merit because no prior sanction was obtained before prosecuting them. The court further observed that taking bribes was not part of the official duty and hence required no immunity from the long arm of the law.

This verdict was music to the ears of activists and concerned citizens who have been watching in horror as politicians have committed the gravest of crimes and not faced any punishment. Says Subhash Kashyap, constitutional expert and former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, “Earlier it used to take a lot of time and very often the delay was used as a cushion. But the situation will change as investigating authorities will not have to wait to start proceedings.” Another lawyer activist Vishwanath Chaturvedi, who has filed about 15 cases against top political leaders of Uttar Pradesh, including the current Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, is really enthused by the legislation. “I have solid evidence against Mulayam Singh Yadav, and I have submitted this in court. He will certainly be punished,” claims Chaturvedi.

There are many government officials who have fought losing battles against corruption and crime in high places who think they are vindicated now. One of them is B.R. Lall, former CBI Joint Director who witnessed how the powers can be deliberately botched-up investigations into the notorious Hawala scam that rocked India in the mid 1990s. According to Lall, the then CBI Director Vijaya Rama Rao, possibly under pressure from the political higher ups, deliberately and systematically scuttled and destroyed the Hawala case by filing frivolous chargesheets. Lall appears confident that officers like Rao and their political masters will find it increasingly difficult to camouflage their crimes by misusing their position.

Even the man in the street thinks that the tide is finally turning against venal politicians. Scores of people who spoke to TSI appeared convinced that the Soren sentence and the Supreme Court order will well and truly open the can of worms cultivated by the high and mighty. And virtually all of them appeared mightily pleased and dished out a common verdict: ‘Serves them right’.

This growing confidence could also be because of a series of recent judicial decisions that seem to be humbling the high and mighty. Santosh Singh, the son of a former top official of CBI, was recently sentenced to death for the rape and murder of Priyadarshani Mattoo. When Manu Sharma, the son of a top Congress politician, was acquitted of murder charges, it triggered a massive outpouring of outrage and protest, after which the Delhi High Court took a suo motu decision to reopen the Jessica Lal case. Despite public sympathy and goodwill, Bollywood actor Sunjay Dutt was convicted for illegal possession of firearms. MP, former cricketer and popular TV commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu was sentenced to three years in jail for culpable homicide by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Suddenly, it looks as if corrupt and criminal politicians and senior bureaucrats are running for cover, fearful of when the long arm of the law will catch up with them. And, the list of these august personalities reads like a who’s who of Indian politics. The names range from Lalu and Rabri Yadav to C.P. Thakur to Jayalalithaa to Mayawati to Parkash Singh Badal (see text boxes).

But as the old saying goes, one swallow doesn’t make a summer. Granted, Soren has been given a life-term. Yet, even here, you have some media analysts and commentators who seem to think that Soren has been punished also because he is a tribal who is not as adept as upper caste politicians in manipulating the system. More importantly, there have been scores of cases pending against leading politicians for years and decades without any sign of a verdict. And the so-called bahubali politicians continue to brazenly flaunt their muscle power.

A recent example was the Nitish Katara murder case where the sister of the main accused Vikas Yadav, Bharti Yadav, deposed in the court after avoiding it for close to four years. Not only did Vikas Yadav publicly slap a media photographer, armed goons and thugs put the fear of God in media persons waiting near the courtroom for a glimpse of Bharti Yadav. Vikas Yadav is the son of D. P. Yadav, a leading politician of western Uttar Pradesh with more than a dozen cases of murder, rioting, kidnapping and other serious crimes. Vikas Yadav is also a co-accused in the Jessica Lal case.

Most legal experts seem to be of the opinion that giving corrupt and criminal politicians their just desserts is a long haul. According to them, the Indian system needs to purge itself of many ills before influential people can be given justice for crimes. The most important is the desperate need for judicial reforms. According to activists and legal experts, the pathetic condition of the Indian judiciary enables not just leading politicians, but also influential people from all walks of life to get away by committing crimes – civil, financial and downright criminal. If the swallow doesn’t portend the onset of summer, then neither does Soren’s conviction mean you will have top politicians being tossed into jail like confetti. The stark reality is, Soren has been convicted despite the entire political system successfully crippling the Indian judicial system. There is a desperate shortage of judges at all levels, and even routine expenses of lower courts like stationery is controlled by the executive. In the event, a majority of politicians manage to drag cases against them for twenty years and more. Common sense dictates that a criminal will fear law only if the justice delivery system either acquits or convicts people accused of crimes in a speedy manner. For instance, if a few top politicians are convicted (or even acquitted, for that matter) of corruption or other serious crimes in, say, just one or two years, it will put the fear of God in the minds of other politicians, because politicians will realize that, despite escaping the law once, twice, or even thrice (as judgements are passed faster), one day the due process of law will finally catch up with them. That will lead to a tremendous change among politicians who arrogantly strut around now as creatures well and truly beyond and above law.

Just one case is sufficient to indicate how the high and mighty can subvert the system to make a mockery of justice. In 1999, Sanjeev Nanda, the grandson of influential arms deal Admiral Nanda, allegedly mowed down six people (some of them policemen) while driving a BMW under the influence of alcohol. There were eye-witnesses to the gruesome accident and deaths, one of whom confirmed to the police that Nanda was indeed driving the BMW. By the time the case came up for hearing, the witness was singing an entirely different tune and claimed that it was actually a truck, and not a BMW that mowed down the innocent people. The verdict in this case is expected very soon, in a few weeks.

Courts seem to be now taking action against witnesses who turn hostile. Zaheera Sheikh, the prime witness in the Best Bakery case where rioters burnt down about a dozen Muslims, was another prominent witness in a high-profile case who turned hostile. She was sentenced to one year in jail for perjury, that is ‘lying to the court’. Yet, no action has been taken against better placed and better-off witnesses like Shayan Munshi who turned hostile and destroyed the Jessica Lal case. No wonder, some people think that justice delivery continues to be skewed against the poor and the downtrodden. In fact, it is this perception of justice favouring only the upper castes that has leaders like Lalu and particularly Mayawati laughing all the way to the bank. A majority of the Dalits actually take pride in Mayawati for beating the manuwadis at their own game and amassing huge wealth. Their refrain is: “Upper caste people have been doing it for ages. Why raise a stink now if lower caste leaders do the same?” Similarly, criminal politicians like Mohammad Shahabuddin and Raja Bhaiyya are perceived as Robin Hood-like figures and inspire tremendous loyalty. The judiciary does need to take its share of blame for letting such perceptions to fester. Unless the poor, the marginalised and those discriminated against for centuries feel confident about justice, rogue politicians will always exploit naive voters.

Yet, there can be no doubt that it is becoming a season when the high and mighty have reason to be afraid. The judicial wheels of justice seem to be finally moving remorselessly and ruthlessly. A few more important verdicts against top political leaders of India, and while the Augean stables might not be swept completely clean at once, at least well begun is half done. Lalu-Rabri

The Minister for Railways, Lalu Prasad, and his wife Rabri Devi, former Chief Minister of Bihar, will face the judgement in the Rs 46 lakh disproportionate case on 18 December. Lalu also has six cases under the Rs 950 crore fodder scam. The disproportionate assets case is that Lalu accumulated Rs 46 lakh between March 1990 and March 1997 as CM. Rabri’s been made accused for abetment to Lalu’s indiscretions. Ajit jogi

A former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Jogi has three cases pending against him. Forgery of his caste identity, bribing BJP MLAs in Chhattisgarh to stop them from forming the government and attempts to tarnish the image of the Intelligence Bureau through forged documents are the crimes of which he has been accused. Sukh Ram

Former telecom minister who stuffed more than Rs 3 crore in his mattresses. Was later sentenced to 3 years rigorous imprisonment for causing a loss of Rs 1.66 crore to the exchequer by favouring a Hyderabad-based firm in the purchase of telecom equipment. Also asked to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh. Mulayam singh

Mulayam Singh comes from the backward yet influential Yadav community. Currently Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he is being questioned about a Rs 35 lakh plot in Lucknow, which is under his wife’s name. He is alleged to have several undeclared assets, and has a disproportionate assets case pending against him. The hearing for these cases has been scheduled in the Supreme Court. Shahabuddin

The RJD leader and MP from Siwan in Bihar, Mohammad Shahabuddin is currently lodged in Siwan jail since last year. He is under trial for 40 criminal cases. Kidnapping, extortion, bank robbery, illegal possession of arms and the murder of CPI(ML) activist Chandrashekhar are some of the atrocities committed by him. Mayawati

The Bahujan Samaj Party supremo has been accused of amassing property under the name of her father, mother, brother and sister-in-law. Moreover, she has also been in the line of fire for her alleged involvement in the Rs 1.75 billion Taj Heritage Corridor scam. The case is still under investigation by the CBI. She has been accused of selling election tickets for money. The caravan of justice rolls on

Many independent research studies have indicated that the number of criminals in the Indian Parliament and assemblies has been rising relentlessly over the last few decades. In the last ‘official’ report compiled by the Election Commission in 1999, as many as 700 out of 4072 legislators had a criminal background. Quite obviously, the proportion would have swollen over the last seven years as more and more criminals are openly entering politics. There have been numerous efforts to put a stop to this increasing criminalisation and to roll it back to ensure the survival of Indian democracy. Yet, the political class manages to stymie and frustrate such efforts in the most cynical manner. In 2002, the Supreme Court and the Election Commission announced that politicians who have been ‘chargesheeted’ for serious crimes by a court cannot contest elections. That is what the Indian law stated. Overnight, the Parliament unanimously passed a new law that allowed chargesheeted politicians to contest elections. But one good did come out of the efforts of the Court and the Commission. Candidates now have to file a statement that reveals not only their and their family’s wealth and assets, but also the number of cases pending against them. If civil society organisations can galvanise public opinion and shame ‘criminal’ candidates into leaving politics for good, it would be a huge boost for Indian democracy. Of course, politicians are not going to give up without a bitter fight. Parkash badal

Charged under the Disproportionate Wealth Act, Parkash Singh Badal, Shiromani Akali Dal chief and former Chief Minister of Punjab, also has a chargesheet filed against him by the Vigilance Bureau according to which his son Sukhbir Badal and his wife Surinder Kaur along with him have amassed Rs 4,326 crore.