Paying for peace

It's true, while the big fish violators go scot free, the ordinary law abiding citizens must pay the price. Less than a year ago, I had purc...

It8217;s true, while the big fish violators go scot free, the ordinary law abiding citizens must pay the price. Less than a year ago, I had purchased a modest Delhi Development Authority flat which was in an execrable condition. But no sooner did I summon a contractor to change the cracked flooring, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi MCD and Delhi Police With You, For You, Always!, smelt blood.

On Day Three of the work, I received a frantic call from my contractor. A burly constable had arrived with an MCD wallah and ordered a halt. I had to call up some senior cops, and get rid of him. Violation? Despite exhortations from my neighbours whose Octopus-like extensions had made their flats virtual bungalows, I had opted to be a law abiding citizen.

My reason was simple 8212; I couldn8217;t afford it. 8216;8216;I don8217;t want to be harassed by MCD officials and I don8217;t have money to bribe them,8217;8217; I declared. I had heard that MCD actually stood for Most Corrupt Department. Yet ironically, I was still harassed by the police, who have made extortion from under-construction flats an unwritten law across Delhi.

A few months later, a close friend bought a small DDA flat in a different part of south Delhi. Eager to camouflage the flooring with tiles and restore some of the interior, she hired a contractor. But the day he was mixing the cement, a constable arrested his team on the grounds that he had committed violations. Tell your Madam to call me for their release, he leered.

When I called the chowki-in-charge after getting a senior to speak to him, he was all honey. But when I accused his underling of demanding a bribe, he bristled with pious indignation. 8216;8216;How can you allege that, Madam, did you tape it?8217;8217; he shot back. I mentally resolved to carry my recorder with me for self defense 8212; With Me, For Me, Always 8212; and hung up.

The next day, a smarmy MCD official strolled across to the flat and threatened 8216;8216;Your neighbours have lodged a complaint, and today I stopped the men, but tomorrow I won8217;t be able to unless8230;8217;8217; With that dire threat, and his cell number, he waltzed out. Despite the fact that he couldn8217;t detect a single violation!

Luckily for us, I had contacts, but what about the ordinary citizen? He pays through his nose just to keep the peace, violations be damned.