Monday, May 13, 2019

SUSPENDED OFFICERS DON'T CRY: The Aftermath

So the corrupt officer who was apparently asking for too much got caught eventually and..... hang on, you do know how it happened right??

No.... well take a look at the previous post 

Moving on so by now you know that a corrupt officer Mr X was caught in a trap set by the Anti-Corruption department because he didn't stipulate to the previously agreed bribe amount and tried to extract more.


Anyway, people say that Mr.X was crying like a baby in front of the team and was then taken to custody immediately. He didn't make bail the very next day and it was imperative that he made bail in the next 72 hours because according to the Civil Service rules of the state, that officer automatically gets terminated if he/she spends 3 or more nights in jail. So eventually the case was filed, he got terminated as he couldn't make bail and suddenly we saw Mr.X in a whole world of mess.

At this point some of you might feel, "he had it coming" and "more power to the anti corruption department",but please hold on to your horses. In India the judiciary has a peculiar motto "Innocent until proven guilty", the idea behind it is that its better to let go 10 perpetrators than punish an innocent bloke. This is not technically and entirely justifiable but when you put into perspective the massive population of the country where there are an entire plethora of broken laws and crimes being committed than this ideology may not eliminate all the bad apples but won't hurt the good ones too.

So the court proceedings started in the District Sessions court where Mr.X got a fancy advocate because ....why not. The Anti corruption team had the evidences and the witnesses, including the contractor who Mr. X tried to fleece (read the  previous post ).
so all in all a solid front was put forward with all the witness corroborating the chain of events leading to Mr. X's indictment. Mr.X had realised that things don't seem that bright for him , so as soon as the District Sessions court ruled it against him, he was quick in action to get a stay on his sentence. So the law clock was reset and all these things have to be presented against in front of the High Court.
At this point one needs to understand that how the convoluted pattern of the law favored the alleged and it took almost 2 years for the District Sessions Court to hold him accountable which had given Mr.X the opportunity to gauge the direction of the judgement and take a pre-emptive action by getting a stay order. Although X is not out of the woods yet but he is getting enough leeway to fight for another day and in the judicial world , one day means more than just a day.
Indian Judiciary System
PC(Google Images)


So by this time Mr.X has had his resources drained by a considerable amount with no hopes of getting his name cleared as of now. But he has one advantage over the Anti Corruption department,yes I said advantage. The terminated Mr.X has literally no skills, talents or the fortitude to succeed anywhere else through sheer qualifications hence a government job is his only known abode. So for him getting reinstated is not just a matter of pride and dignity but a matter of life and death. No matter how evil of a government officer he is, he still holds responsibility of a father and a husband so for him there is just no other option but to fight till the end whereas the Anti Corruption department is doing a menial daily job and the witnesses have better things to do then go through the ordeal for testifying against a culprit twice.
So the High Court proceedings started and by this timne Mr.X had mended his way with the contractor(the prime witness), the Anti-Corruption department and his parent department as well. The proceedings were stretched at first, but ultimately the delay was going to drain his hard-bribe-earned money incessantly. Eventually the case ultimately grew weak because with time it had to, and the high court gave the judgement this time in favour of Mr.X to get reinstated.

At this point you might be thinking that how could our justice system let such a simple, open and shut case get completely overturned letting a corrupt officer, caught red-handed simply walk away. Well trust me this is absolutely true and some seasoned government officials could vouch for the fact that this incoming-outgoing is a part of being an officer.
Justice System sucks
PC( Google Images)


Now you must be wondering that with the High Court order in his hand  everything is back to normal. Mr.X thought so too, he was elated with the judgement and informed everyone in our department that he's going to be back soon. However there was one last twist in this story, just because you have a High Court order doesn't mean that the Government would take swift and necessary action to reinstate you and pay you back. No, because the people who would carry out the formality of putting up a letter, getting it signed by the higher officials and then type a whole new order for you , are actually just like Mr.X; the only difference being , they haven't been touched till now.

The excitement and happiness which Mr.X had, could be seen draining away with each of his failed visit. The staff at the ministry were quite blatantly ignoring him and telling him to come back later. Mr.X knew the drill so offered a hefty sum for their efforts, but sometimes people just like to watch you squeal don't they. Its just the sweetest desires of every person to see someone implore and beg for something ,who they think totally deserve it. Meanwhile the people from our department were teasing him that, maybe the High Court order had a spelling mistake or you took it the wrong department. Its ok to feel for Mr.X a bit, after all in the eyes of the law he was an innocent citizen who deserved his seat back. One fine day Mr.X went to the clerk at the ministry and straight up asked him if he was going to get his job done or not, the clerk again tried procrastinating and on hearing it he opened the office's window and was about to jump from the 6th floor of the building. He announced to the entire staff that this clerk is to be held responsible for everything that happens from now on, and.... it worked. People rushed to get him off the window and calmed him down. Offered him some water and then later that day Mr.X was given the coveted order he so vehemently desired.
That I believe was the most apt punishment which Mr.X desired, not to undermine the 4-5 years of the legal tussle but there is something about the finish line in sight. It just hurts too much to lose so much over so little.

So anyway last year Mr.X finally got reinstated and fortunately I was present at the Head office at that time. I saw a calm, shy and soft spoken man grinning at times who was just happy, finally. For a moment I thought that maybe justice was served finally and that a responsible and honest officer came out of the end of all this.

Three days later he was back at his usual tone and wit, demanded a transfer to a district of his choice and the contractors are complaining to the head office that Mr.X is trying to extract every penny worth of his ordeal which he so fittingly deserved. 

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