Keeping the criminal out of the fray

Who is the sufferer in this whole game? It is neither the Government, which is something amorphous, nor the accused. It is the aggrieved party which is the loser. The major beneficiary in such cases is the accused. The abstract concept that let nine guilty persons escape rather than one innocent be punished, does not cut much ice with the person who has lost property or limb or who has seen a near and a dear one killed. He would sometimes have the misfortune to see the known accused let off on technical grounds. The recent carnage in Jehanabad in Bihar reminds one of the 35th resolution issued by the Governor of Bengal, Lord Hastings, during the British raj. He said: "A rigid observance of the law is a blessing in a well regulated State; but in the Government as loose in Bengal (Bengal at that time consisted of the present West Bengal, Bangladesh, Assam, North East, Orissa, Bihar and part of UP) is and must be for some years to come, and extraordinary and exemplary coercion must be employed to eradicate those evils which the law cannot reach…. It was ordered that a dacoit on being found guilty shall be carried to the village to which he belongs, and be there executed, for a terror and example to others; and for the further prevention of such abominable practices, that the village of which he is the inhabitant shall be fined; according to the enormity of the crime; and inhabitants according to his substance; and that the family of the criminal shall become the slaves of the State, and be disposed of, for the general benefit and convenience of the people, according to the discretion of the Government".

Many would consider such a regulation not only to be draconian but also totally abhorrent. But we did also have such a law in the form of TADA. It was a different matter that it did not produce any results. The election code of conduct is only guidelines. It does not have the sanctity of the law. Its violation does not attract any penal provision, but only a temporary inconvenience. Why? Because the sense of what is moral and what is immoral has been lost. It is also because we have become a selfish and soft State. As long as a person can squander the money plundered from the Government treasury and claim that he has a committed vote bank, even in the highest in the country would not be averse to cultivating him.

The muscle power during the elections has come to symbolise the capacity to win. If the State Governments are controlled by goons and lumpen elements, then who will check their activities? It is a laudable objective, that no convicted person should be allowed to contest elections. Perhaps, we need to go further in debarring all those involved in criminal cases like murder, dacoity, robbery, criminal misappropriations and spying from contesting the elections without waiting for the court verdict. This will ensure that those who wish to enter public life would keep their personal life records clean.

The writer is a former director of CBI