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On December 9, 2003, the Patna High Court heard a petition accusing the government of Bihar of dereliction of duty in the Satyendra Dubey mu...

On December 9, 2003, the Patna High Court heard a petition accusing the government of Bihar of dereliction of duty in the Satyendra Dubey murder case. Reproduced are extracts from the order issued by Chief Justice Ravi S. Dhavan and Justice Shashank Kumar Singh. Its language speaks for itself.

Between the time when this petition had been filed and as of now, the media is agog in reporting on this aspect incessantly. An engineer being executed for the only fault that he was executing a public project is a personal tragedy, but a national concern 8230;

The execution carried out by the contractors8217; mafia 8230; is giving Bihar a bad name, nationally and internationally. If those who have to execute planned projects, public projects, their safety cannot be guaranteed, then planning in Bihar is in the doldrums.

Not to plan is bad. But the insidious criminal plan that planners will not be permitted to plan and those executing plan projects will be shot dead is terror. This is terror by those who run a parallel economy.

A young engineer does not have to be sacrificed at the hands of a contractor mafia or those who want a pay-off for permitting the projects to continue. The highway engineers and with them the selected contractors were constructing the national highway funded by the government of India.

Putting impediments in the execution of a plan is anti-people and anti-national. To shoot engineers who execute public plans, extort protection money and pay-offs sends a terrorist message that the ghost of Al Capone has come to India.

The highway, the plan of which was being administered and took the life of Satyendra Kumar Dubey, an engineer, runs through only four districts of Bihar. This particular stretch 8230; was only 60 kms. In the darkness of the night if a gun-toting mafia bumped off this engineer, the signal is bad for planning. Who will pay the protection money? Government of India? That last question the court is not answering.

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But the State of Bihar cannot get away 8230; National Highway 2, as it enters Bihar, involves only four districts; Kaimur at Bhabhua, Rohtas, Aurangabad and Gaya. The first two districts are under the commissioner, Patna, and the last two districts under the commissioner, Magadh division.

It only shows that the state government of Bihar, between four districts, cannot even provide guarantee of safety to the executors of plans; state engineers and state contractors.

This will have to be guaranteed. It does not matter how much it costs the government of Bihar 8230; Even if this entire highway has to be protected as a frontline campsite with day and night patrolling, it will have to be done.

The construction of the highway cannot be stopped. It must go on 24 hours without stop. There can be no let nor latitude nor slackness in protecting the plan and the engineers who work on it 8230;

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Whoever is responsible for protecting the construction of this highway, whether the DMs, the SPs, the commissioners of the two divisions, the home secretary, government of Bihar, or the chief secretary, government of Bihar, they will be present in court on the next date at 11.30 am, and assure the high court of a dedicated plan that monitoring on this national highway will be such that the highway will go on progressing without let or hindrance to help and aid the construction agencies, whether it is the National Highway Authority or the Ministry of Road Transport, government of India.

Further, the parents of this engineer, the newspapers report, are residents of Bihar. Wherever they are, the state government will ensure that they get special protection. One does not have to write chapter and verse on this to make the government understand. This much ought to be enough.