Hang thieves, not scapegoats: Convictions of HC Gupta and his two colleagues have petrified bureaucrats into inaction

When political power-players, all the way from elected district netas to state and central ministers and public representatives, are absolutely certain that the pulverised bureaucracy will either listen to their commands or be punished into submission, one case has really stirred the hornet’s nest. The reference here is to the convictions of former coal secretary HC Gupta and two of his IAS colleagues for allocation of coal blocks during the past regime, which was patently an erroneous judgment. To extricate ourselves from the forest of legal provisions of the Indian Penal Code, like 120-B, 409 and 420, and the lethal sub-sections of section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, we need to look only at the big picture. 

The issue is not whether an IAS officer should be jailed or not because several such officers have been jailed in the past and more perhaps need to be. The issue is not even an IPS versus IAS matter and we are not questioning why prior sanction was not taken before prosecution. Alarm bells are ringing for other reasons: why was an honest official like Gupta indicted on technical grounds, even after the CBI or the special court could not establish any personal gain or mala fide reason? Hundreds of others who take similar decisions every day or preside over inter-ministerial meetings appear petrified into inaction. Repeated studies have shown that the Indian bureaucracy is one of the slowest and most negative ones, so we can ill afford further complications, even if some feel that the uproar is just a tantrum to ensure immunity. 

Let us also not forget that India is rated as a very corrupt nation by Transparency International and others and this could not happen unless the bureaucracy had participated or connived in it. The question is: which bureaucracy? Corrupt civil servants who collude openly with the political class appear totally immune. Most people also just refuse to believe that any revenue, police or municipal official, especially at the tehsil or thana level, can ever be clean, even when some pay with their lives for being upright. But if the nation loses faith in the topmost layers of administration, we really need to find out what went wrong. After all, only the best get in through mind-boggling competitive examinations. Having spent 42 years in the IAS and beyond, I can still stick my neck out and declare that most are still above board. Or else, the system would have collapsed long ago. But, more dangerous than the corrupt are those who connive or look away when corruption takes place above or below them. At times, many get government-subsidised property or assets for being so pleasant and agreeable. There are no free lunches, so subsidies or handouts from any regime call for malleability from otherwise clean officers. Thank God, these are now under the searchlight of transparency. 

But the bitter reality is that service or conduct rules and the Classification, Control and Appeal Rules under which disciplinary proceedings are conducted have failed altogether. The processes are so cumbersome that hardly any criminal who is on the government’s payroll ever gets punished severely. Then, we have mountains of judicial pronouncements that are usually harsh on authorities, reprimanding them for taking “vindictive steps” to punish the offenders, who are rich enough to hire the best lawyers. Many government lawyers actually make ‘self goals’ and the operational rungs who prepare legal papers usually revel in their powers and devious expertise in fixing or spiking punishment proceedings. The Prevention of Corruption Act can be effective or, as proved in the HC Gupta case, downright technical or simply cussed. Can something not be done? Modi’s regime is clean at least at the highest levels, but can it not control the middle and lower officials before whom hapless citizens have to cringe?  They decide on taxes, crimes, speed, land matters or dues and their cut rates are reportedly even higher nowadays.

A simple beginning can be made right away: by taking secret ballots in every office on who is seen as corrupt and who makes sexual advances. A nation that conducts the world’s most massive electoral operations will find these periodic exercises to be child’s play. There would be some distortions but over a long period of time, this data from colleagues would stabilise and pinpoint who to focus on for anti-corruption action. We need to fire sharp effective rifle shots at them, not spray all with ineffective pellets. 

The author is a retired civil servant and former CEO of Prasar Bharati. Views expressed are personal.