The black sheep

What will the Chief Vigilance Commissio-ner's bid to publicise on-going cases against senior serving and retired government officials achi...

What will the Chief Vigilance Commissio-ner8217;s bid to publicise on-going cases against senior serving and retired government officials achieve? Is it fair? The answer to the first question is some good can come out of the publicity. N. Vittal, the CVC, appears to have no doubt in his mind that it will have a beneficial effect. By posting on the Internet the names, charges and status of penalty proceedings against senior officers, he hopes to remind others of the consequences and deter them from corruption. And since there is widespread public scepticism about the effectiveness of anti-corruption proceedings especially when they impinge on powerful members of the senior bureaucracy, Vittal thinks he can restore public confidence by showing the big fish being hauled in. He is correct in these assessments.

The array of heavyweights, former and present secretaries, managing directors, deputy inspector generals, commissioners, deputy collectors and other IAS and IPS officers, is bound to send every bureaucrat in the country to the CVC8217;s site on the Internet, most from curiosity and some from fear of being found out themselves. But for there to be a really positive impact on bureaucrats and the public it is important for the proceedings to be brought to a conclusion and appropriate punishments to be handed out. As it is, many of the 85 cases have been going on for ten years and there is always the likelihood of proceedings being delayed and obstructed for many more years.

Indeed such an outcome is a real risk. It was after all senior bureaucrats at the Centre who resisted and delayed the appointment of the CVC in the first place. This is why publicity is essential, why the spotlight should be kept on such cases. Quite apart from the public8217;s right to information, there is the fact that it will be harder to let cases drag on endlessly and thus scuttle them if those cases are constantly in the public eye and questions asked about them.

As for whether it is fair to name names while proceedings are still on, the important point surely is that the officers are not merely being charged with corruption, they are being proceeded against. These are all cases involving major penalties including removal or dismissal from office and loss of pension benefits. So there is no frivolousness here; there is serious, big-time corruption here.

In each instance the office of the CVC has advised criminal and/or departmental proceedings. It is well known how difficult it is to bring a case to this stage, how many obstacles would have had to be overcome even after a prima facie case of wrong-doing was established. In such matters the bureaucracy often presents a solid and impenetrable wall. Finally the publicity does not in any essential way prejudice the officer8217;s right to defend himself. In any case in criminal proceedings the officer would enjoy the same rights and be subjected to the same disadvantages as any other person facing criminal prosecution. On balance the CVC has done no harm and indeed has done well to post the names on the Internet.