A Supreme Court order this week, clarifying its removal in 2014 of the “immunity” to senior central government officials from probe in corruption cases, is significant. The apex court made it clear that its 2014 order, that investigating agencies need not seek prior central government permission for arrest of — or probe into actions of — errant officials, will apply retrospectively. The court order would apply to such cases registered before 2014 too. Notably, the present case had been filed by a chief district medical officer in Delhi, who was arrested in 2014 while allegedly accepting a bribe. His argument, inter alia, was that the CBI had not taken prior permission from the Centre before his arrest. The case kept dragging.
It is common knowledge that cases in Indian courts go round in circles. The ultimate beneficiaries are the law violators who get a long rope to defend themselves and ultimately escape the arms of law. Investigations go on and on, arguments and counter-arguments are done with neither bell nor brake, spokes are put into the wheels of justice, and final judgments are delivered after decades. Only the well-heeled can afford such expensive exercises in the name of justice-dispensation. Successive governments did not show the nerve to rectify the system flaws. The Modi government, which completes two terms in office shortly, did too little in such respects. As a result, the system is getting increasingly corrupt and the bureaucracy is wallowing in corruption; and so are the politicians. They are, rather, hand-in-gloves. The arrests of a few officials here or there, or a top politician like Chandrababu Naidu in AP, are simply cosmetic acts when seen from a wider angle. These actions hardly ever served any purpose other than lamely justifying the relevance of the investigation agencies.
It must also be noted that the “protection” to senior government employees against arrests was granted by a BJP-led NDA government in 2003 and this provision continued till its removal by the Supreme Court in 2014. The Delhi officer’s arrest happened when this law was in force. The apex court now made it clear that its 2014 order has retrospective effect. Clearly, this officer could not claim immunity from arrest. The NDA government in 2003 apparently exceeded its brief. This unwarranted grant of “protection” to senior officials emboldened them to indulge in corruption. Notably, the corruption graphs vis-à-vis the bureaucracy and the political establishments have registered a sharp rise in the past 20 years. This is not to blame all the officials or politicians. The number of the corrupt bureaucrats or politicians today is more than the number of the upright in these ranks.
