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Introduction
Before 325 BC Socrates said "knowledge is virtue knowledge promotes virtue " knowledge was
something which inform not only the mind but also the soul .It
influences the human character and conduct .as a matter of fact
one cannot be virtuous without knowledge but today in our society
knowledge is a rare commodity and the knowledgeable person is few
and far between. Keeping in socratarian tradition Aristotle said
in similar vein "it is better for a city to be governed by a
good man than even by good laws ". Down the line the British
Prime Minister had once said "when men are pure laws are
useless, when men are corrupt laws are broken." the British
Education System did lot of harm to the people of India and even
after independence the country followed the British legacy to a
great extent. Sir Wavell, admitted when he said, "we
have done worse in the field of education, because we have given
Indians the education of letter and not of character". Law
cannot wipe out the offences overnight but over a period of time
it can prevent more blatant abuses .It is impossible to eliminate
corruption is firmly rooted in our character. But, it can be
reduced to a great extent if sincere effort is taken.
If we
analyze, examine and scrutinize
the power and composition of the three wings of the state namely
a) legislature b) executive c) judiciary we can find out the
system of diseases that exist in our system.
a) Legislature
If we look to the composition of
parliament we shall feel frustrated to see that only 10% of the
parliamentarians can be considered to be able and competent
parliamentarians in the house of more than 500 members. The rest
10% members are of doubtful and dubious character and a great
majority of the members are illiterate goons with criminal
backgrounds. There is no minimum qualification prescribed for the
parliamentarians. One can imagine what can be the contribution by
this law making body towards legislation. I still remember when an
important legislation of Shah Bano case could not be passed in one
city due to lack of corum. However, the bill had to be passed
after getting the members present by whip.
b) Executive
The executive power infact though exercised
by the electorate body, the real power rests with the civil
servants who are called "departmental experts." these
experts belong to all India services like IAS. There are 3 types
of IAS namely
I) Who are recruited by merit by conducting
competitive examination
II) The second class IAS belong to the sc/st and
III) third category belongs to nominated IAS
they may be from all these categories because
of the diverse
composition . There exist clash of conflicts among themselves, in
the process the purpose of the legislation is lost in squabble
between real and unreal and the act takes place in the backburner.
Being not implemented properly for the reasons aforesaid the
suggestion is put forward for further amendment of the act. Our
constitution has been amended
53 times in 36 yrs and that of the USA only 26 amendments
in 198 yrs
c) Judiciary According to the SC Advocate On Record VS.
Union Of India and others (AIR 1994 sc 268) the judges used to be
appointed on merit which should be the predominant: this decision
has been further extended by a decision on presidential reference
case reported in AIR 1999 S.C.1, wherein it was held that the
opinion of the chief justice of india so given has privacy in the
matter of all appointments but it is doubtful whether those
decisions are followed in practise or not. There is regular
interference of the political leaders, as a result the merit takes
backseat. I know about a brilliant lawyer whose name was
recommended by the chief justice of the high court supported by
two senior judges as per the provision of the decision of the
Hon'ble Supreme Court. However, though all formalities have been
completed but he was not appointed for political interference. It
cannot be said that merit is a pre-dominant consideration. In the
lower judiciary 90% of the presiding officers are corrupt who owe
allegiance to their political master, who are their appointing
authority in disguise. It is said by a renowned journalist
"that the law is up for grabs and justice knocked down to the
highest bidder". The corruption is rooted in the marrow of
the people. It is difficult to wipe out totally from the society
wherein the germ of corruption is embedded firmly..
The lawyer who is a part of the judiciary
plays a pivotal role. The less one speaks about them the better.
Shakespeare called most of the lawyers 'leeches' who are only busy
fithering their own nest. Nowadays their contribution towards the
service of people is very insignificant. The free legal aid Scheme
does not properly benefit the society due to the fact that good
lawyers are not engaged in free legal aid cases
The very important case in point in respect
of the executive malpractices is a case between P.V.Narasimha Rao
Vs State (CBI reported in AIR 1998 SC 2120) wherein) Hon'ble
Supreme Court held that "a member of parliament against whom
there is a prima facie case of corruption should be immune from
prosecution in the court of law is to my mind an unacceptable
proposition at the present time. I do not believe it to be the law
"
The corrupt public servant should be dealt
with severely so that they cannot escape punishment. Property
acquired through illegal means should be confiscated and the
persons concerned should be removed from service through due
process of law. The existing law such as Indian Penal Code and the
Prevention of Corruption Act are sufficient to deal with the
corruption cases.
This article is not a complete review of the subject matter and,
as such, the reader should not make decisions on the basis of the
above.
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Probity in
Governance
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