CAUGHT IN THE VICIOUS CIRCLE OF CORRUPTION

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr.M.Karunanidhi, in a scathing attack on the

Tamil Nadu police after he assumed charge of the State Government in 1996, said “

Three fourths of the police force, which, to the State, is like liver to human body, has

become rotten.” The remark coming from an experienced chief executive of a State

distinguished for its efficient police force until a few decades ago indicates the atrophy

that has set in, in the Indian police. The department cannot stay untouched while there is

marked fall in the standards of diligence and integrity in other walks of life. Indian

police adopted and adapted itself to corrupt surroundings.

The basic ingredients of corruption in India are money and power. As

Government service, even at the higher rungs, has lost its charm in terms of remuneration

and status, it has been attracting only the second best among youth who otherwise would

be left in the lurch. Professional dignity and integrity have been brushed aside leading

to corruption. Priorities in service have been shuffled, the sole objective being money

and power. Organisational objectives have been completely lost sight of. Shift in

diligence helped to build money-power while shift in loyalties facilitated proximity to

power-brokers. The degeneration spread rapidly with the passage of time as

organisational commitments became outdated demode and pragmatism taught that

immediate personal interests are for leading a good life. This was the beginning of

corruption of Indian police.

A major contributing factor has been the gross fall in professional pride among

the personnel. Grass and insensitive handing of the policemen and police matters by

political leaders has eroded the morale and the sense of belonging to the police force.

Attempts to suppress and gain complete hold over the bureaucracy and the police in

democratic India have affected the police adversely causing a sense of inadequacy.

The lack of motivation to achieve organisational goals and show results is a clear

manifestation of the fall in professional pride. The police, which once was proud to

enforce law, to maintain order and to ensure peace and security, have lost all the

enthusiasm as these factors became political and lost their importance otherwise.

Crimes, criminals and law and order problems were all subject to political convenience.

The development shattered the professional pride of the police and struck a blow to their

motivation towards organisational ends. No organisation can exist without a driving

force to sustain it. When there is a vacuum of a drive to carry it onward, it is filled by

corruption.

Policing is more a profession than a job. While job involves performing a task

entrusted, profession entails dedication and commitment to a cause; in the case of the

police upholding the rule of law and safeguarding the security of the country. How
dedicated are the police to this cause in India? Simple observation of criminal activities

around and police responses to them give clues to the situation.

Let us take an obvious example- open sale of smuggled articles in exclusive

markets maintained for the purpose in major cities of India. The common justification of

the police for allowing such markets to do business is that no hard evidences to prove

offence are available. This is unbelievable. If the police, with the resources at its

disposals cannot collect evidence against the illegal activities conducted openly on such

a large scale, it is not worth being in existence. There is not even a single case

anywhere in India of such exclusive markets dealing with smuggled articles being shut

down and the illegal activities being brought to a halt by prosecuting the sharks of the

smuggling world.

The same is true of stolen articles. The footpath vendors in specified market areas

trade in consumer goods, running to crores of rupees each day, without paying legal dues

to the Government in the form of sales and income taxes and in violation of various rules

and laws. The illegal business contributes to the growth of parallel economy of black

money in the country. These markets thrive before the eyes of the local police force.

Either the police do not have the professional resolve to bring the illegal activities

to halt or the offenders who indulge in them have the police backing in running the

business. In other words, the police are hand in glove with them.
 The leeway involved in the exercise of power, coupled with the sensitivity of the

job, renders the force vulnerable to corruption. Letting gambling dens flourish, backing

the manufacture and sale of illicit liquor, overlooking prostitution, black-marketing and

drug trafficking, changing the course of investigation to save certain criminals or

deciding the process of arrests and seizures to favour certain individuals or parties,

make life different for the people involved. On the one hand, illicit business carried out

with police patronage or tacit support make huge grists in which the police naturally have

a huge share. On the other hand, the culprits are prepared to pay any price in order to

divert the attention of the police. Huge sums of money change hands either to avoid

arrest, search and seizure or to change the very course of investigation. The police can

be part of such dirty deals without leaving a clue.

A fall-out of corruption is, the dishonest thrive at the cost of honest professional.

Flexible elements are useful assets to people in key positions to save their kith and kin as

the when they get involved in criminal proceedings. Such characters in police are

always cultivated and posted to key positions so that compromises can be easily

mached Honest police officers are sidelined.

The need for police is limited to the need to have an obedient force at the

disposal of the rulers for use wherever they feel like. The existence of such a force gives

the common man a feeling of security. The force also helps to absorb the blames heaped

on the rulers while things go wrong. While these cardinal goals are met by the mere

existence of the police, anything in addition, say professionalism, integrity and honesty
become achronisms. The general perception is that an upright police force is always an

inconvenience to the people and therefore is not always tolerated and encouraged.

Corrupt police is the product of a corrupt society and corrupt police in turn

perpetuate corruption in society. This forms a vicious circle. As corruption takes control

and spreads to all strata of the force, upright elements in the force become a minority and

also forfeit the coveted position in the organisation as inconvenient candidates. They are

scorned, detested and avoided as moles in the mainstream. Taking recourse to unfair and

illegal means to crush upright officers in also not uncommon. Though courts of law can

theoretically protect officers against such harassment, expenses, time and uncertainties

involved and the history of court judgements render the protection meaningless and force

the upright officer to silently bear all humiliations and losses or yield to the pressures. It

is to the credit of Indian police that it has great officers who have withstood all slights

without yielding to pressure.

In the olden days, corruption was confined to the lower strata of officials. The

situation has changed now; it originates from the above and percolates downwards. An

intelligence chief may drive his unwilling subordinates to adopt all sorts of illegal

methods including telephone tapping, political espionage and other dirty tricks in his

attempts to win over his political masters and may even succeed at the cost of more

senior aspirants. Now, what about the subordinates once his business is done. His worry

is how to use his new position to further his prospects before he retires in a few months.
As the date of retirement approaches, his perception of right and wrong blurs in the lust

to make the most of the position. This is the crux of the problem of corruption.

Freeing the police from the grip of corruption is a priority for rebuilding India. A

non-corrupt police is the beacon of a healthy society. The police can usher in a healthy

social life in the country only by first getting itself rid of the cobwebs of corruption and

then infusing professionalism in its work. It must elevate itself to the heights expected of

it as the guardian of the rule of law, justice and fairness in the social structure of the

country.