The murky machinations of the minister and his minions vis-a-vis the missed call to a judge and the missing millions of 2G continue to dominate public mind. As raids follow raids, skeletons tumble in a torrent, ‘incriminating’ docs attain moksha in CBI archives, leaks become a deluge and political missiles fly thick and fast, real enlightenment however remains elusive. So, frustrated and fatigued as we may be, there is no choice but to muse helplessly and keep to the lament lap over the sordid state of things in this so-called land of karma and dharma.
The persistent and pervasive pessimism in these columns is not just personal but I believe is also in keeping with public mood. To put it bluntly, there is a complete erosion of trust in all the institutions that govern citizens’ behaviour. Just as the cessation of the force of gravity would suspend physical objects in a chaotic collision course mid-air, the breakdown of the legal laws and as it seems, even the divine law, dharma, have put men and their matters in utter disorder and disarray. The common folk are clueless as to what is right or wrong and whom and what to believe. There is nil hope that goodness will be recognised let alone be rewarded and wrong doers will be punished. And there is every fear that a watertight system will trap an innocuous individual’s indiscretion while the criminal acts of the high and mighty just glide smoothly above the same system.
Not just the law-bound common man but even a dutiful dispenser of law appears out of sorts. Listen to what ex-Judge Raghupathy has to say on the minister’s missed call: ’…I do not have any security. And I want to live like an ordinary citizen. These are big people involved. I am scared. I could have initiated contempt proceedings …. but I did not want to create a situation that could have attracted adverse comments from the bar as well as jurists’. A thousand indictments could not have been more damning. So even a judge had to look over his shoulder before or after doing the right thing for fear of ‘big people’! And his apprehensions appear to be justified: Justice Gokhale, the HC CJ who could have himself initiated contempt proceedings chose to pass the buck to the SC CJ Balakrishnan, who in turn, for reasons apparent only to him, gave the issue a quietus! Justice Raghupathy, who feels let down, says they could have acted but ‘both of them did not’. We know not when ‘might is right’ became a judicial dictum!
But it has always been so in the realm of politics. Ironically, by its vintage definition, politics is supposed to be all about public service through the Constitutional instruments of governance. Politicos in power are deemed public servants. Instead, how they serve themselves, their kith and kin at public expense is the reigning rational tale in TN. The scam world too has its codes of conduct and hierarchies; there is a pecking order and scapegoats, who grazed the surface for some leftovers, are put up for sacrifice probably in the order of their ‘compensation’. But the needle of suspicion, nay guilt, always points to the top. Bofors to 2G, there has been nary a doubt about the real culprits. Nation or State, first families can get away with anything. The political system, which includes the opposition too, somehow provides for this insulation, as a means of self-preservation. Six years of NDA rule did precious little on Bofors. Open and shut cases and instant justice are only for roadside rowdies and petty pickpockets. And of course, the rest of us.
The might of the scamsters is only one part. Big people, alluded to by Judge Raghupathy, have to perform big scams to justify their bigness. Deed done, big money brings with it big advantages. Powerful people across all pillars of democracy can be bought. Like with the legendary Vali, that means more power to the scamster’s self. And there are big reliefs too from mundane things; no TDS, no Advance Tax, no filing of tedious forms, why, no tax at all. But the greatest virtue of big loot is that it is too big for the system. Tax laws are designed to prevent revenue seepage, not revenue hijacks. Rs 1.76 lakh crores was not pilfered through the porous rules but lifted clean, above and over the system, and in full public view. Raja and the real rajas behind him can utmost be made to pay a political price, never the lost price of the spectrum. With bigtime scamsters there are no refunds, either!
It is we, of the small lot, who get entangled in the web of daily chores and official procedures. All the instruments of the Constitution, intended to enable and empower us are either corroded or beyond reach. They, however, hit back in full force if we slip even an inch, which can happen because every one of us would have cut some corner somewhere sometime. The reverse potency of these instruments is higher when in the hands of a powerful but unscrupulous person. A wholly twisted mind can very legitimately use these perfectly legal weapons to fell opponents, silence critics or settle scores. This is the judgement that arises from the Judge’s predicament: To quote him again, ‘…these are big people involved, I am scared’!
I too am! And so are you, I am sure!
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