The first refuge of scoundrels — hospital

The minute the Central Bureau of Investigations wanted to interview former Union telecom minister A Raja, where does he head?

Give yourself full marks if you answered ‘straight to hospital’.

We accept that high-profile jobs give you stress and when you are found to have been misusing your high-profile job, the stress is bound to increase, but there is a limit to how far you can stretch our credulity.

But Raja is, of course, only following in the footsteps of India’s rich and powerful: no sooner are they found with their hands in the till, then they clutch their chests and claim that they have a heartache.

Not as much heartache, it must be admitted, as the people who they have scammed and cheated or the sometimes, as in Raja’s case, the entire national exchequer.

Perhaps all our investigating agencies need to have a few big name cardiologists on standby so that high-powered suspects can be assured of quality medical treatment the minute their wrongdoings come under the scanner.

We could also build special jails with five-star hospitals attached, which could be financed from the ill-gotten gains of the accused.

The old saying went that patriotism was the last refuge of the scoundrel.

The new version says the hospital is the first.