Comment

We should respect the privacy of every citizen, even public servants

We can now all rest in peace. Our very vigilant police have shown commendable bravery and courage once again. Receiving a tip-off, which is the biggest investigative tool of our cops, a posse of policemen raided a bungalow in Lonavala and arrested a number of men and women. Usually it’s the customs department which announces ‘a record haul’ of something or the other; this time it was the turn of the police to announce a record haul of Customs men.

The Customs department is embarrassed, the police department is boastful, the ever-vigilant home minister RR Patil is for stringent action and righteous citizens have called for the Customs officials’ heads. All very satisfying no doubt until you examine what it is that the arrested men were actually up to.

Piecing together media reports, here’s what happened: the officials, 12 of superintendent rank and 10 of inspector rank were all on night duty at Sahar
International airport. Apparently they are entitled to two days’ leave after working a night shift, so they decided they would organise an outing. A professional party organiser was contacted, a bungalow in Lonavala was booked and the men took off in hired cars to their site.

One of the policemen from the raiding group was quoted saying, “The party was in full swing when we reached the bungalow around midnight. Some ex-bar girls were dancing topless to the tune of Bollywood songs. A blue film was being played on a laptop. All the customs officials were drunk.”

Subsequently, the police party searched the bungalow, seized bottles of foreign liquor and Indian currency and some DVDs of‘porn films’. They then arrested all the officials and the bar girls. Not leaving anything to chance, they also arrested the party organisers and the DJs who were playing the music. For good measure, they added to their haul the bungalow’s poor caretaker and the driver.

Should the police get a medal for this heroic action? Or should we pause a moment and say, ‘Hey what’s going on?’

Apparently the accused have been charged under section 292 of the Indian Penal Code for indecency, as well as under the Prohibition of Liquor Act. The police inspector in charge of the raiding cops has in the meantime beamed at TV cameras and said, ‘When we reached the bungalow, we found that the customs officials were merrily showering currency notes on the dancing girls.’This has prompted state home minister Patil to announce that he would check if a case could be made against the officials for showing disrespect to Indian currency.

That of course, is typical RR Patil excess: it would be a joke if it weren’t for the fact that he is our Home Minister. Of a similarly ridiculous nature are the charges under the liquor Act, an outdated, outmoded law which needs to be struck off as early as possible. Most homes will have a collection of liquor bottles acquired over the years. What is wrong with keeping them if they are for personal consumption?

What about the obscenity charges? The facts as I see them are as follows: here was a group of adult men in a private house, behind closed doors, watching a group of adult women disrobe. The women were not being coerced but were willing participants. I can understand obscenity charges being pressed if this had to happen in a public place where someone’s sensibilities might have been offended, but here you hada private group of consenting adults with no outsiders present. The fact that they were all drunk is irrelevant because they were neither driving, nor being disorderly, nor creating a ruckus that would have disturbed the neighbours. If you and I have the liberty to get drunk, so do customs officials. And so do policemen or ministers as long as they are not drunk on duty.

What we should be vigilant about are crimes of commission on duty: are the customs officials taking bribes from passengers? Are they conniving with businessmen to evade import duty? Are policemen overlooking evidence because they have received money under the table? These are matters of public interest. Not
actions, seemly or otherwise, behind closed doors.

It’s about time we respected the privacy of citizens. Customs officials are as entitled to having fun as anyone else. Whether that ‘fun’ should take the shape of watching a strip show is between them, their conscience and their families. It is, to put it bluntly, none of our bloody business.

The writer is a commentator on social affairs.