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Round The States
New Delhi, 11 April 2013
Corrupt Cops
MUMBAI CHECKS THEIR
TRACKS
By Insaf
Maharashtra’s police has set an
example to check the nuisance of bribes, for other States to follow. On
Wednesday, the Mumbai police suspended 36 of its personnel for allegedly
pocketing bribes from residents of a colony in Nehru Nagar. But it cannot take
all credit for it. For the action to catch them was not its initiative, but
that of a local social worker who upstaged the 36 cops with his complaint.
Having learnt from his friend that the uniformed men from the Nehru Nagar
police station were demanding money from him for renovating a dilapidated
structure in the refugee camp, he decided to do a sting operation on them. With
a hidden camera, the social worker caught images of the cops, from constables
to inspector, taking the bribe—a total of Rs 45,000 and handed the CD to senior
officers. Interestingly, the share of the booty would be divided according to
the rank of the policemen, with the top cop getting the biggest chunk. An
embarrassed State Home Department promptly issued suspension orders against the
cops mentioned in the complaint and also initiated a departmental inquiry. While the report would be eagerly awaited by
all concerned, home departments in other States could take a cue and perhaps do
one better by conducting sting operations on their own. Bribe or no bribe, it
is definitely worth a try.
* * * *
States Judicial System
State Governments can
look forward to facilitating speedy justice to their people. This follows a
commitment made by the Centre on Monday last to provide necessary funds to
them. Addressing the conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices in Delhi, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh agreed on the need to enhance the number of judges and urged the
CMs to take the initiative. However, given the grossly inadequate
judge-to-population ratio, he assured the CMs of more Central funds. These
would help create infrastructure for subordinate judiciary to address the
critical issue of pendency of over three crore cases! Accordingly, New Delhi would engage
with the 14th Finance Commission for devolution of funds as well as
earmark money for setting up fast-track courts. While it’s a welcome move, the
States can ill-afford to be complacent. For a speedier justice delivery system,
funds alone may not be an answer. A complete overhaul and a change in judges
mindset too needs to be considered.
* * * *
TMC Hooliganism
West Bengal is now increasingly
getting a taste of Trinamool Congress’ ‘hooliganism’ to put it mildly.
Following the heckling of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Finance Minister
Amit Mitra by SFI supporters in Delhi,
Trinamool workers and the students’ wing went on a rampage on in the State on
Wednesday last. As per police record, 36 CPM party offices other than 86 in Cooch Behar and 19 of FB
were “ransacked or torched”. Violent protests continued in various towns
including Malda, Siliguri and Bankura. However, what is unforgiveable and
unpalatable is that Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad members vent their
anger shockingly at Presidency College and ransacked its historic Baker
Laboratory, renovated and inaugurated by
former President APJ Abdul Kalam only last month. Worse, the police remained
mute spectators! The incident has evoked widespread condemnation and made
people question how the TMC rule is any different from the previous Left Front.
Sadly, law and order, is no better in Mamata’s rule.
* * * *
UP’s Lawlessness
Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Akhilesh Yadav needs to get his act together, before people lose all
hope. Far from keeping his promise of improving law and order, the situation appears
to be getting worse, a common refrain Insaf
heard while in Shahjahanpur district, not far from Lucknow. Even SP supporters seem to suggest
that Mayawati’s rule was better! They may not be off the mark at least on this
count given Tuesday’s incident in Bulandshahar, which has made the Supreme
Court take suo moto notice. A 10-year-old dalit girl, who was taken by her
mother to the all-women police station to lodge a rape complaint, was made to
spend the night in the lock-up! Worse, the girl’s family is facing threats from
the Rajputs in the village to take back the complaint, as the accused is from
their community. Observing “it is shocking” that a minor rape victim was put in
a lock-up, the Supreme Court has asked the State Government to explain the
circumstances by Monday. With the case hitting the headlines, the Government
claims the girl was “not raped” and that erring policewomen were suspended.
Will this suffice? Not if the Government views it as only a case and fails to
see the grim picture of lawlessness all around.
* * * *
Delhi Anti-Sikh Riots
Delhi’s 1984 anti-Sikh riots’ ghost has
resurfaced much to the chagrin of the Congress. On Wednesday last, a city court
not only put aside a magisterial court’s clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish
Tytler but also directed the CBI to conduct further investigation and record
statements of witnesses. Recall that other than then prominent Congress leaders
Sajjan Kumar and Late HKL Bhagat, Tytler was named in the reports on the riots,
which had claimed over 3,000 lives, following the assassination of then Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi. While Tytler claims he will come out clean, the CBI
clearly has been put in the dock. In fact, it may be red-faced as the court has
rejected its clean chit to Tytler in the magisterial court, thereby giving
credence to the Opposition’s criticism of it being “Congress Bureau of
Investigation”. This apart, the timing
of the order doesn’t augur well for the Congress as it comes in the midst of
its questioning the secular credentials of BJP’s Narendra Modi. How can it only
recall 2002 Gujarat riots?
* * * *
Haryana’s Dog Check
Haryana is all set to put
in place a novel scheme to check the menace of stray dogs. It proposes to
institute a “Society for Stray Canine Birth Control” which will supervise not
only catching the stray dogs but also sterilizing them. According to the plans,
the stray dogs will be kept in kennels after sterilisation till they recover,
to ensure that dog lovers don’t have reason to take up cudgels. However, what
is innovative is that to ensure that sterilisation has actually been undertaken
the officials will “physically verify the number of genital organs collected.”
And it shall be only on the basis of the numbers presented and counted that the
municipalities will release payment to the Animal Husbandry Department. Other
than checking the population of stray dogs, unwittingly the Government proposes
to check misuse of funds. Truly, killing two birds with one stone. –INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)
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