Forced out

By putting in his papers, the first chairman of the State Accountability Commission, Justice (retd) R P Sethi, has exposed the chinks in the government’s much-hyped war on corruption. In absence of an official word, it is not clear whether the resignation has been accepted by the governor. Going by some sketchy reports that have trickled out, the governor has forwarded it to the chief minister seeking the advice of the government “on this important issue.” At the same time, he is reported to have told Justice Sethi “to approach and seek the indulgence of the chief minister” on various issues which might have created an atmosphere of uncertainty over the fate of the Commission. However, the no-nonsense former judge of the Supreme Court rightly refused to do so asserting that “in view of the prevailing situation, it was not proper for him to speak to anybody in the government.” Although the indications about the souring of relations between the government and the highest constitutional body charged with rooting out the canker were available only days after it was hesitatingly set up by the PDP-led government around the

end of its 3-year stint, the inevitable seems to have come at the most unlikely time, when the chief minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, is in the midst of an all-out offensive against corruption in both administration and politics. The way the authorities have sought to create hurdles in the functioning of the high-profile body said to be a “deemed high court” ever since its creation did not leave even a grain of doubt in public mind that the government was not serious enough in its commitment to stamp out corruption from public life. For some time past, the Commission did not hold its joint sittings as required under the Act, perhaps for the most trivial of the reasons; that it didn’t have space on the dais for all its three members to conduct the hearings. Although Justice Sethi sought an amendment in its section 13 to enable constitution of separate benches to hold simultaneous sittings in Jammu and Srinagar, the government chose to sit over the proposal. Earlier, he had also asked for an independent investigating apparatus and the basic infrastructure in the shape of staff and accommodation.

Ironically, the ruling PDP, which led the coalition government for the first half of its 6-year incumbency, and established the State Accountability Commission not so much as a matter of conviction as to fulfill its main election pledge, never seemed to be serious in ridding the state of the cancer of corruption in public life. This was amply demonstrated by the delay it allowed in setting up the body for no strong reasons. By the time it was eventually formed, Jammu and Kashmir had earned the dubious distinction of being second most corrupt state after Bihar.

Much was expected of the incumbent chief minister, who has vowed to give the people a corruption-free administration during his stint, for which the SAC could have been the most lethal weapon available to him. Sadly, however, it has been during his tenure that the Commission has encountered most roadblocks. Going by the reports, the sinister nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and criminals must have disenchanted Justice Sethi before he decided to take the harsh option. A large number of complaints the Commission received were against some sitting and former ministers and top bureaucrats who must have worked overtime to create the impediments. Indeed, Justice Sethi would not, on occasions, mind an unorthodox

way to take on the corrupt which had even led to the raising of some eye-brows during the recent budget session of the state legislature inasmuch as the chief minister too was carried away by the insinuations of some members. Soon after his swearing in as SAC chairman, he had made no bones to even inspire sting operations to identify the corrupt. In his fight against corruption, he was keen to even assign a role to the Fourth Estate. Indeed, the gravity of the malaise would definitely call for an unconventional approach including a summary trial of the accused. Undeniably, the existing rules and procedures have proved to be totally ineffective to tackle corruption to the extent that various vigilance organizations find themselves embarrassingly unmatched for their daunting task. It is an open secret that they have themselves degenerated into corrupt outfits. With corruption cases accumulating by the day, the government has adopted a procedure under which the accused officials are even rehabilitated after some time of their suspension. All said and done, the government should come clean on its disposition towards the State Accountability Commission and its role as the premier constitutional body to rid the state of corruption in public life. The way the SAC, particularly its chairman, has been treated leaves one with an inescapable feeling that the government is not serious and sincere in rooting out corruption. The chief minister, in particular, needs to allay the misgivings created more so after the resignation of Justice Sethi.

The article is an editorial from KO's archives and was originally published on May 12, 2006