by A. J. PHILIP
If crime and punishment were to go hand in hand, few would dare to commit a crime. Where punishment is not swift and adequate, there are likely to be more incidents of crime. The recent punishment awarded to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and former Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (U) leader Jagannath Mishra and 43 others, including a JD(U) MP and four IAS officers, has created a national euphoria.
I overheard an impromptu discussion among some youths at a railway station in Kerala where the consensus was that every corrupt fellow should be sent to jail. I wondered whether our jails have enough capacity to accommodate all those who indulge in corruption, particularly when the law defines the giver and the receiver of bribe as equally guilty.
If corruption is rampant in India, it is only because we as a society are prepared to tolerate it. We do not consider ourselves corrupt when we bribe the police officer who stops our car for violating the traffic rules or engages an agent to get a driving license made. We gladly pay the police officer who visits our house to verify our passport application. We routinely try to use influence to get our work done.
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Nonetheless, Lalu Yadav was a leader in his own right. He enjoyed massive popular support. He could have done wonders to the state but he forfeited the goodwill of the people by indulging in buffoonery. He had absolutely no vision for Bihar. He could have relied on people with a vision to tap the abundant human resources of the state. The people have punished him and his party in two successive elections. He certainly merited the punishment.
I cannot say the same about his punishment by a CBI judge in Ranchi. Lalu is alleged to be involved in the fodder scam. There is no disputing that the scam occurred, though not in the proportions that the media alleged. What is the scam? Contractors were engaged by the Animal Husbandry Department to supply fodder to animals. They used to supply inflated and fictitious bills and draw money from the treasury, which would be distributed among officials and local politicians.
When a district magistrate noticed some suspicious payments from the treasury at Chaibasa in Singhbhum district, he began to investigate. Lalu Yadav was Chief Minister at that time. Cases were registered against some officials and contractors. His detractors found the scam a good stick to beat him with. The Patna High Court intervened in the case and asked the CBI to investigate the scam, alleged to be worth over Rs 900 crore. (Readers can do a Google search for my article in the Indian Express headlined “A House for Mr Biswas” which discusses how the CBI was used to hound him.)
Lalu Yadav was forced to resign and was sent to jail. A case for disproportionate assets was also lodged against him. After a long trial, he was acquitted of the charge of amassing a fortune. If he had cheated the treasury of hundreds of crores of rupees, the money should have been traced and recovered from him and his family members. Nothing of the sort has happened. Instead, he has been asked to pay a fine of Rs 25 lakh, failing which he would have to spend a few more months in jail.
The Herald of India for more