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Over to Parliament
4 yrs for ragging death! |
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Time to dump Raja
Big blow to Obama at home
Greed and Grief
Military leadership has come under a cloud with some top officers embroiled in a series of scams, thereby posing a challenge to survival of the value system. The onus of restoring credibility and accountability lies with the government
Plugging loopholes in the system
Corrections and clarifications
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Over to Parliament
It
augurs well for the Indian judiciary that Parliament has at last got the green signal to impeach Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court. This follows the Rajya Sabha-appointed committee having found him guilty of misappropriation of funds and misbehaviour. If impeached, it will be a record of sorts because Parliament has not impeached any judge so far. While the first impeachment motion against Justice V. Ramaswami failed to pass muster in the Lok Sabha in 1993 following abstentions by Congress MPs, the beleaguered judge retired in 1994. The three-member committee, appointed under the Judges’ Inquiry Act, 1968, by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari in December 2009 comprised Supreme Court Judge Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy, Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and noted jurist Fali S. Nariman. Under the Constitution, inquiry by this committee, considered a peer group, is a must before impeachment proceedings by Parliament. In its report, the committee strongly disapproved of Justice Sen’s conduct which, it said, has brought dishonour and disrepute to the higher judiciary. This will also shake the faith and confidence which the people repose in the judiciary, it said. Justice Sen is found guilty of collecting, as the court receiver, Rs 33,22,000 from a purchaser of goods and keeping it in his personal savings bank account and misrepresenting facts to the High Court. In 2008, the then Chief Justice of India Justice K.G. Balakrishnan had brought this to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s attention and requested him to impeach him. As persons like Justice Sen are a blot on the judiciary, Parliament should impeach them — which is the only method by which a judge can be removed under the Constitution. Politics, regional or other extraneous considerations should not come in the way of throwing out malcontents from the higher judiciary. The UPA government would do well to evolve an all-party consensus on the issue and impeach Justice Sen by the mandatory two-thirds majority in the current session itself. It would only be fair if the Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India Justice S.H. Kapadia use their good offices in expediting the other cases of corruption and moral turpitude involving Chief Justice P.D. Dinakaran of the Sikkim High Court (transferred from the Karnataka High Court) and Justice Nirmal Yadav of the Uttarakhand High Court (transferred from the Punjab and Haryana High Court). The charges against the two judges are as serious as that of Justice Sen and they, too, must be impeached.
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4 yrs for ragging death!
Aman Kachroo
was an ambitious first-year MBBS student in Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda (Kangra), when he was beaten to death by his four seniors during ragging on the campus on March 8 last year. The perpetrators of the crime were allegedly drunk at that time. The Dharamsala Additional District and Sessions Judge Purinder Vaidya on Thursday converted the murder charges framed under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the four medical students to culpable homicide not amounting to murder and handed out four-year imprisonment to them. Ironically, the four accused would need to undergo only two years and three months of imprisonment because they have already been in judicial custody for 21 months. No wonder, not only the family of Aman Kachroo but also the public at large has expressed concern over the lightness of the punishment. Will it really be deterrent enough to those hell-bent on making life hell for hapless newcomers? It is a matter of shame that the menace, which has spoilt the career of countless young entrants, continues to this date. Not all juniors are killed, but they are tortured so badly that the trauma leaves a permanent mark on their psyche. What kind of doctors can such sadists make? Not only the quantum of punishment but also the certainty that such criminality would not go unpunished can deter the trouble-makers. Ragging has been present in many educational institutions – especially professional colleges – for long but the authorities have always turned a blind eye to it. That is why it has taken on such diabolical dimensions. A committee appointed by the Supreme Court had found rampant alcoholism on the campus and lack of anti-ragging norms as the reason behind Aman’s death. It confirmed that he repeatedly told the college authorities of his humiliation but did not receive any response. His death was the last straw which led to the introduction of new guidelines at colleges across the country to protect from ragging. But his soul cannot rest in peace till ragging is actually eradicated from the country. Enough is enough.
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Time to dump Raja
After
dropping Ashok Chavan (Adarsh scam) and Suresh Kalmadi (CWG corruption) the UPA government is under pressure to axe Communications Minister A. Raja. The Opposition has stalled work in Parliament, the Supreme Court has expressed its dismay (“Is that the way the government functions?”) and the Congress bides time, saying action against Raja is the Prime Minister’s prerogative. The political damage the UPA has suffered is immense. The party has to decide how far its alliance with a stubborn DMK can be stretched. Dr Manmohan Singh’s image as a Mr Clean stands bruised. The CAG report on the spectrum scam, submitted to Parliament on Wednesday after an 18-month probe, has indicted Raja for causing a loss of up to Rs 1.77 lakh crore to the exchequer. A loss of Rs 1,40,000 crore is for not following the bidding process and Rs 37,000 crore for doling out excess airways to some telecom firms. In May this year the government earned Rs 67,710 crore by auctioning 3G spectrum. But in 2007 licences and airwaves (2G spectrum) were sold to nine companies, selected on the “first-come-first-served” basis, for Rs 1,651 crore each — a price fixed in 2001. The minister arbitrarily shifted the cut-off date for applications, leaving out some top firms. The companies that got the licences, including some in real estate, were allowed to sell their stakes without rollout obligations. Swan Telecom sold its 45 per cent stake to a UAE firm for Rs 4,195 crore and Unitech Wireless disposed of its 74 per cent stake for Rs 6,120 crore. Though Raja has all along maintained that the licences and spectrum were allocated in conformity with the government’s telecom policy, the minister, according to CAG, “ignored the advice of the Ministry of Law, the Ministry of Finance and avoided the deliberations of the Telecom Commission”. The regulator, TRAI, remained a mute spectator to “the country’s biggest financial scam”. Raja has survived because of the coalition government’s dependence on the DMK, which is immune to national outrage and sticks to the discredited leader for political reasons.
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The essence of science: ask an impertinent question, and you are on the way to a pertinent answer. — Jaicob Bronowski
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Big blow to Obama at home WELL before President Barack Obama’s arrival in India, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reassured the world that upheaval in domestic politics would in no way affect America’s settled foreign policy. That is broadly though not entirely true. In any case, the US President’s tormenting difficulties are wholly at home. The blow and rebuke that the electorate has delivered him and his Democratic Party in the mid-term elections is severe. Its impact and repercussions would be intense and extensive. That the Republicans would seize control of the House of Representatives was expected by one and all. Yet, the swing away from the Democratic Party to the other side has been huge. Moreover, the Republican Party has expanded its voice also in the Senate that remains, however, under Democratic control. This is not all. The Republicans have wrested from their rivals the office of Governor in at least 10 states as well as mayoral and municipal posts in many parts of the country. Nineteen state legislatures have also switched sides. To fill the Democrats’ cup of misery to the brim, the Tea Party, an inchoate amalgam of ultra-Conservative grassroots organisations that is totally opposed to Mr Obama’s political agenda and is screaming for a “small” government, big cuts in government spending and budget deficits, reduction is taxes and so on, has made a good showing. Its claim that 60 out of 83 new Republicans in the House are its sympathisers may be exaggerated, but it certainly accounts for some of the more impressive Senate victories. No wonder, Mr Obama describes the voters’ verdict as “shellacking”. Of the various reasons for the disaster, the most important is the parlous state of the economy, especially the dangerously high rate of unemployment. To be sure, the economic crisis and humongous job losses were not Mr Obama’s creation. Yet he alone is being blamed. Few are giving him credit for preventing the recession from turning into Great Depression. Instead, he is being pilloried for the stimulus he gave to banks and industry. All that angry Americans are saying is that they are suffering more deeply than ever before during Mr Obama’s watch. Since no economic statistic is more salient politically than that about joblessness, consider this: The economic crisis had begun during the last year of President George W. Bush. Even so, when Mr Obama declared his candidacy in 2007, the rate of unemployment was under 5 per cent. When he accepted the Democratic nomination in August 2008, it was still “only” 6.1 per cent. When Lehman Brothers went down, it was no more than 6.2 per cent. On Inauguration Day, however, it had risen to 7.7 per cent. A month later when President Obama signed the Stimulus Bill, it was 8.2 per cent. It is now 9.6 per cent. How right Mr Bill Clinton was when he uttered those four famous words: “It’s the economy, stupid”. Remarkably, throughout the election campaign he, rather than President Obama, was in brisk demand from Democratic candidates for canvassing in their constituencies, and he did the job superbly. Mr Obama, too, hit the campaign trail tirelessly but didn’t make the same impact. The irony is that, according to Peter Baker of The New York Times, until two years ago, Mr Obama used to “scorn the 42nd President, often comparing him to Ronald Reagan”. But today he “doesn’t mind being a second Clinton because it is far better than being a second Jimmy Carter”. The mid-term US election has been the “most expensive” in American history. From $1.8 billion in 1998 the spending rose to $2. 9 billion in 2006, and has now shot up to $3.7 billion. One candidate, Meg Whitman, spent $130 million of her own money. But she was an exception to the rule. Most candidates were beneficiaries of the colossal generosity (much more to Republications than to Democrats) of non-governmental organisations such as the US Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labour-Central Industrial Organisation). They can donate as much money as they like to political parties’ campaign but not to candidates directly. Moreover, under a Supreme Court judgment delivered in March, there is no compulsion on them to disclose the source of their donations. On the campaign trail, Mr Obama pointed out pertinently that some of the anonymous donations could be from foreign sources, and this was highly objectionable. But all the targets of his criticism replied self-righteously that no foreign funds were being used for electoral purposes. It is a different matter that their ads on TV were often in bad taste. On the morning after the night before, Mr Obama accepted “full responsibility” for the electoral debacle but refused to accept that the policies he adopted were wrong. He also declared that he looked forward to “working with the Republicans” in the best interest of the American people. The Republican leader in the new House, John Boehner, who will replace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker, also uttered a few ambiguous words to the same effect. But the proposed action of his party will accentuate the conflict. For, the item number one on the Republicans’ agenda is to “repeal” the healthcare programme pushed through by Mr Obama and, therefore, called by all critics “Obamacare”. To an Indian visitor such virulent hostility to a programme that would bestow insurance cover on tens of millions of the poor who could never afford it makes no sense. But the opposition to healthcare reform among even the middle class is surprisingly strong and widespread. It is doubtless true that both Ronald Reagan and Mr Clinton had lost control of the Congress after two years in office, and yet got re-elected. But no one can shut one’s eyes to the huge change that has since come over the American political landscape. Seldom, if ever, has the level of hatred between the two mainstream parties been as high as now. Moreover, the Tea Party, which is likely to create as many problems for the Republicans as for the Democrats, would vehemently obstruct any compromise between the party leadership and the White House. A final word: Nikki Haley, an Indian-American, has undoubtedly become the first woman of Indian origin to be the Governor of South Carolina, and the second Indian to be Governor of any Indian state. Two Indian doctors have got elected to state legislatures. But all other candidates of Indian origin have bitten the
dust.
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Greed and Grief ‘G’
is not a mere letter. Its application can be varied. It generally denotes the good and great. Even a generation. It can be G2 or G20. One for technology and the other in diplomacy. But there is the other side too. It was the year 1991. ‘Radiolinja’ had commercially launched the second generation 2G cellular telecom networks in Finland. A decade later, the 3G technology was commercially launched by ‘DoCoMo’ in Japan. The world is moving forward at a fast pace with the 4th generation technology. In diplomacy, the movement is from G5 to G20. And nearer home? The ‘Raja’ auctioned 2G spectrum. Left a sickening spectacle. Allegations of all kinds followed. The government promised to ferret out the truth and punish the guilty. Now that the CAG has given its findings, probably some action shall be seen. Regardless, if past experience is any guide, the corruption continues to flourish. It appears that everyone has his own perception of ‘G’. To some, it only means the gift of gab, grab and greed. They talk of principles. But act only on interest. Platitudes and promises are their forte. But they continue to grab. With every project, ‘Games’ or ‘2G’, their appetite increases. The greed grows. This class is multiplying. Then, there are the others. They may not have the gift of gab. But they are not immune from the weakness for ‘grab’. They look for what may seem less insidious and more innocent pleasures of life. Like the goodies and grub. They can gobble up anything that appeals to the eye. Be it bland or spicy. Cold or hot. Creamy or crunchy. All the time. Day and night. An insatiable appetite. And the worst part is that unlike others, one cannot even hide the results of such greed. There is no bank or locker that can cover up the sin. Inevitably, the girth grows. The bulge shows. No matter how much one tries. Whatever one wears. A coat or a kurta. Nothing works. Truly, the battle with the bulge is a disappointing pursuit. As a last resort, I have learnt to live with my greed for good food. My conscience is no longer the guide. It has become an accomplice. But I still cannot persuade myself to accept the greed of the khadi-clad clan for the green pieces of paper that bear the portrait of Gandhi. Will the greedy never come to
grief?
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Military leadership has come under a cloud with some top officers embroiled in a series of scams, thereby posing a challenge to survival of the value system. The onus of restoring credibility and accountability lies with the government
What
has come to surface as series of misdeeds and misconduct at the highest level of military establishment, now with the chiefs as dramatis personae resorting to indulgence in satiating petty greed, is far from mere illegal transactions for appropriating assets not lawfully entitled to. It is an unimaginable misdemeanor, not in terms of material value or commission and omission in a state of forgetfulness as may be contrived, but in the impulse to commit the very act. This indicts these officers of willful disdain for military virtues and self-discipline in their own character when they are the custodians for ensuring the same in others. The conduct of these Generals thus exposes a threatening challenge to the survival of the value system within the institution already under extreme pressure from the commercial culture that has made serious inroads in our military routine, actions, customs and habits. Hard professionalism is not in fashion any longer having given way to sycophancy and nepotism.
Committed at the apex of the military structure entrusted to enforce order and safeguard national integrity, this is a humiliating and shaking exposure that must sound the alarm as a national crisis and viewed as merely an incident adding shame to military's already tumbling image and a slur on the nation's slumping self-esteem. Committing such offences collectively with deliberate intent and full knowledge of its moral ramifications is an act no less than sedition against the State on whose behalf these officers held their stations. Its extent and impact is unfathomable, especially in a sensitive institution responsible for lives of men and their conduct in peace and war. It subverts national security by giving a grave message that this institution can be penetrated, is vulnerable at the highest level, its officer class fickle in character and its leadership purchasable. Sending the message down the chain of command to the soldier on the line destroys his trust in superiors and affects morale without which no military force can sustain. In betraying the officer honour code and breach of professional ethics, their conduct adds an affront to the memory of the fallen. It is intriguing how such officers bereft of moral sensitivity could be paying homage in ceremonious exhibition of reverence to the dead. The damage that such leadership can do or has done to the very appraisal system it is entrusted to safeguard and apply to field the best material for battle, is unreckonable and long lasting. Any system is as good as its handlers wish it to be. The military appraisal system is as best as anywhere, yet can be compromised arbitrarily. Appraisals can be manipulated for vested gains, unjustified differentials created and profiles doctored to mask the truth. The system can thus be axed across the board, thereby losing credibility, breeding disaffection and alienation, introducing spurious practices such as fake citations and tampering reports, thus destroying the dignity of military professionalism. The impact of this bears directly on the state of defence preparedness, military sheen and élan, discipline and image. All this has been visibly degrading. Character attributes cannot be acquired over night. Traits get embedded in formative stages of officer grooming and condition ones behaviour. That these generals have been hoodwinking a practically foolproof selection procedure and drawing benefits from apparently flawed appraisals could not have happened without collusive or tacit abetment at the political -bureaucratic level that exercises primacy over all decision-making. For instance in the 90s an officer who should have been dismissed for cowardice in field rose to the level of army commander by dubious doctoring of his record because he was connected to a defence secretary. This happened in tandem with granting indiscreet favour to another who was connected to a political party. In another example, a defence minister colluded with brass on import of coffins. The previous army chief was under a cloud for transactions while as army commander, actually sabotaging an inquiry that could have pinned him down, but was shielded by the ministry. That this has so far not cracked discipline in rank and file is only because of the young officer and the jawan, still drawn from the peasant stock, carries traditional values steeped in regimental pride and legacy of the past. He is one who is held in awe by friend and foe. But for how long, as this tradition is under attack by the political class in collusion with pliable military leadership, is worrying. The onus for arresting the fall from grace lies directly on the government that seems to be making a mockery of running a nation with an unabated tide of misdemeanors in its corridors. Time has come to roll heads. The generals involved must pay dearly for the shame they have brought to the profession of arms and its standing. In the meanwhile the Chief, having resolved and pledged to cleanse the institution, must be given unfretted support by the Government and the institution to purge the system, restore credibility and accountability with assured non-interference by politicians. The writer is former chairman of the COAS' Complaints Advisory Board
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Plugging loopholes in the system Loyalty,
honesty and integrity are the basic traits of soldiering. Till independence young men from royal and landed families joined the army as officers as services were considered the best vocation for men of honour and people used to cherish the desire to don the olive green. Up to the sixties, corruption was taboo and not heard of. Officers served not for money but for a cause and the desire to continue martial family traditions. They possessed incredible moral values and unquestionable integrity. With the passage of time, evils from the social environment that soldiers come from started creeping in, but corruption amongst senior officers remained unheard of, except for some isolated cases in the Service and Ordnance corps. With socio-economic development and commercialisation as well as lowering the status of commissioned officers by the government, the cancer of corruption started eating into the otherwise impregnable security shield. Now one comes across scandals involving senior officers which has not only adversely affected moral in the ranks, but also shaken the confidence of the common man in the operational capability of the forces. Will the forces led by such officers be able to pull off repeat of 1971, is a question being commonly asked. Officers of the rank of major general and lieutenant general are now involved in offences concerning moral turpitude, financial irregularities and other corrupt practices. Corruption is not only receiving illegal material gratification or misappropriation, but also getting undue service benefits. Promotions are not immune from corruption. At times these are managed through money, influence or other means. Throwing lavish parties and presenting costly gifts is common. There is also talk of some formations being virtually "run" by wives of senior officers who issue orders directly to juniors. For choice postings and promotions even security has been compromised. The infamous Tehelka episode in which senior officers were caught on tape demanding and accepting bribes from fictitious arms dealers was still fresh in the minds of people when the Sukhna land scam and the Adarsh Housing Cooperative Society case hit the headlines. Not that all allegations are true. There are cases where false and baseless charges have been leveled against officers by interested parties over professional rivalry, promotions and awards. Even Military Intelligence (MI) funds and public money has been misused for this purpose. Black sheep have certainly tarnished the image of military officers as a class apart. The only saving grace is the stringent military law, which takes to task officers found to be involved in corrupt practices. Several senior officers including lieutenant generals have been sent home without trial for immoral activities whereas others have been subjected to court martial for professional impropriety, corruption, molestation, selling liquor, etc., and awarded exemplary punishment. Had they been tried in civilian courts, many would have been acquitted. Such cases take place because there are certain in-built flaws in the military system. Officials of the Military Intelligence are aware of corrupt practices by senior officers, but these often go unreported because the command system is such that their career is in the hands of the commanders whom they have to expose. Who will like to sacrifice his career, promotion, postings and awards for nothing? The system need to be strengthened so that intelligence reports are sent directly to the Army Chief through the Director General MI, without bringing it to the notice of seniors in the chain of command, and then initiate action after due investigations. Further, officers detailed to conduct investigations or courts of inquiry are clueless about crime investigation methodologies and techniques. The military system of dispensing justice needs to be overhauled. No efforts are made to go into the roots of the case or to expose the big fish. When big fish are found to be involved, the tendency is to hush up the matter. Officers of the Judge Advocate General's Department lack professional acumen and, at times, join hands with seniors in their corrupt deeds or even in subverting due processes so that the truth does not come out. Corruption in the public life is well documented but it is just not acceptable in the armed forces for the very simple reason that the nation can ill afford to hand over security of the country's borders in the hands of corrupt officers. Such elements need to be weeded out, dealt with a firm hand, while honest officers and whistle blowers respected and rewarded to restore the trust and confidence of the public in the armed forces. The writer retired from the Judge Advocate General's Department
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Corrections and clarifications n
The headline “Shut cases against Rathore: CBI” (Page 7, November 11) is misleading. It should have been reflected in the headline that the CBI has filed closure reports in two cases. It is not as though the CBI has said that all cases be dropped. n
The headline “Pak slams US backing for India in UNSC” (Page 15, November 11) is inappropriate. It should have been ‘…on UNSC’ or ‘...over UNSC’. n
The headline “Obama offers help ease Indo-Pak tension” (Page 2, November 9) should instead have been “Obama offers help to ease Indo-Pak tension”. n
The headline “Preliminary probe over in siropa row” (Page 5, November 9) should have been “Preliminary probe into siropa row over”. Despite our earnest endeavour to keep The Tribune error-free, some errors do creep in at times. We are always eager to correct them. This column appears twice a week — every Tuesday and Friday. We request our readers to write or e-mail to us whenever they find any error. Readers in such cases can write to Mr Kamlendra Kanwar, Senior Associate Editor, The Tribune, Chandigarh, with the word “Corrections” on the envelope. His e-mail ID is kanwar@tribunemail.com. Raj Chengappa,
Editor-in-Chief
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Character is the keystone of the profession of arms and embedded in military virtues. These are not individual cases as one may believe, but group tendencies in a cycle of exposures over a period and a dangerous fall out from protracted corrosion in officer discipline and leadership accountability, with the military code shifting loyalty to fulfill personal agendas. When heads should have rolled at the top, it was never done.