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.

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.

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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The Election Duty-2019

The first phase of the Festival of Democracy 2019 concluded yesterday and with it as they say the kismet of the candidates. The candidates, the bright hoardings, the rallies, the issues, the people, the EVM and the inedible ink selfies hog the spotlight in this entire set of affairs. Who said/did what, who voted for whom become the cynosure of all and it should be ; unless you do understand what its like being an election official. This was my first time being one and it did nothing to spark the love of democracy for me, but everything to admire the sheer volumes of those millions of worker bees who are directed to take time off their usual assignments. Its already impossible for us fellow Indians to queue up for anything , let alone for some wild rush of pressing a button in the sweltering heat, but what is even more perplexing is getting those slothful babus to get out of the comfort of their chair and homes for enabling the common man to decide their fate, sort of.

I was appointed as the Sector Officer(or Zonal Officer) and had 13 polling booths under me. The District Collector office had conducted a slurry of training sessions, Q&A and workshops for equipping the concerned officers with proper technical know-how for the machines and the overall procedures governing the smooth conduct of the polls. However it all comes down to the Pre poll day when amongst  the huge rubble of government you actually meet the polling parties, all smiles and jokes from the outside discussing about the arduous journey they took to be here surreptitiously suggesting the innate disagreement they all carry within to this unconventional yet indispensable workload that has befallen over them. They are teachers, accountants, officers, clerks, doctors, engineers, professors rarely known to each other but its that duty order that unites them together. It is important to know that election duty is a non-optional convention which unless you can get away with some “justifiable” reason, could get you suspended almost instantly for the slightest of errors.

So even after knowing the stakes, the election training starts which is actually sitting in a giant hall and listening to the Do’s and Dont’s as patiently as you can but most of the people rely on their past experiences on these things and only come in to avoid a show cause notice. Its total mayhem on the day before polling , as people come in from almost everywhere around the city with their bags. As a sector officer you come to know your polling parties only the eve before election and help them on their way to the respective assigned Polling booths. Now these polling booths are not the most well maintained premises, mostly they are municipality schools, storage centres, colleges and/or community halls, so not the best of the facilities are expected. No matter what designation you have, its heartening to know that you can’t leave the premises even for a walk or some refreshments and that you have to sleep on the bare floor unless you got some bedding of your own.

The E-day is when it all turns real, you get to wake up early in the morning and start a mock poll, and by 7’o clock your voting actually begins where people start lining up and although are willing to exercise their votes, may fall short in identification or missing their name in the voters list altogether. But as a Polling officer- The show must go on. Then come the enthusiastic political goons, who just need to garner attention at any cost, and its for people like these the Presiding Officers have been given unlimited powers and police force at their disposal so that they could drive away any and all creating a scene. Some people do complaint about the machines because it’s a trend but take it from me who had commissioned the machines, its highly improbable to get an EVM that works in favor of some candidate, although there might be some battery or other technical issues for which the arrangements are in place already. I myself had changed an EVM during mockpoll because the VVPAT machine was running on a faulty battery but that’s almost it.  

Meanwhile it’s the middle of the day and we see a drop in the voter turnout as people are busy doing their household chores and its at this point that the polling parties get a breather where they could have some food and mental rest.

The final hour is again the most crowded part of the day when people come in flocks but now the polling parties are exhausted and grow a little restless. Anyway as the duration of the poll ends there lies another arduous challenge of the statutory and non-statutory paperwork that has to be meticulous as it determines the success and failure of the polling station in your booth. The demand to be correct and the need to be quick sometime cause unexpected blunders resulting in suspension of officers but still a majority of the people do it diligently and report back to the headquarters in the evening or night. Its at this place where they really lose their minds, they have been working exorbitantly hard and now its just a formality of submitting the machines and the literature back to some other government employees, who they expect to  be empathetic to the taxing task they had just completed. But truth be told, it is at this point people complaint about the mismanagement of authorities out of tiredness and disgust. After all is said and done, people do leave for their homes, although there is always that lingering doubt that everything checks out properly and that is the story of the election from an official’s perspective. I might not have the exact figures but in my personal experience the government officials involved in making the biggest democracy work in just a single day, themselves rarely vote. I think its but natural to get jaded of the entire process however they still enabled millions of their fellow beings exercise their right to vote and that’s the point. The people who actually make this festival of democracy a palpable reality are the ones who sacrifice a lot and the only thing they expect in return is their job they have been doing in the first place.

What do you think guys, I will keep creating more relatable and practical content which I come across as part of my job. Do checkout my other posts as well-

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