CIC DECISION No.CIC/AT/A/2009/00378 DT.26-06-09- A DEVASTATING BOTCH

CIC Decision No. CIC/AT/A/2009/00378 Dt/ 26-06-2009- A Devastating Botch.

It is surprising that the I.C should demonstrate his total ignorance of a basic well settled law that stipulates that as soon as an article is given to the appropriate postal authority to be delivered to a particular addressee it becomes the property of the concerned addressee, pro-tempore held in trust by the postal authority on behalf of the custodian -addressee for the time being till it is delivered to him.(sic). Or was he feigning ignorance of this settled law only to save the otherwise indefensible P.I.O/AA of the public authority in this case recently decided by him under the Right to Information Act-2005 on 26-06-09.(And if it is so for what purpose?) I, for one, refuse to presume that an Authority as high as I.C could be so naïve as to not know what the stipulations of this well settled law, that falls well within the domain of common knowledge, are and that posting of any article through the agency of post office, ipso facto, implies its delivery to the addressee for all intents and purposes thereby making him the custodian of the document(s) posted to him.

Here is a case where the appellant had SPEED POSTED two Medical Reimbursement Bills SEPARATELY ON DIFFERENT DATES FROM DIFFERENT POST OFFICES to the same Public Authority and on their demand produced and submitted to them ‘THE PROOF OF THEIR DELIVERY” after obtaining the CERTIFICATE OF THEIR DELIVERY from the competent POSTAL AUTHORITY to the entire satisfaction of the CONCERNED Public authority and the addressee in this case. Yet the P.I.O feigns ignorance and states that those reimbursement claims were never received by the public authority and they hold no information regarding their processing. They take this stand in spite of the evidence from the postal authority to the contrary. The certificate issued by the competent postal authority clearly shows that the medical reimbursement claim documents sent by the Speed Post were duly delivered on due dates to the registry of the public authority. The copy of the above Postal evidence of delivery of the documents was also submitted to the Public authority on their demand, and twice to the I.C.(a) first with the Complaint dt. 28^th September 2008 u/s 18 of the Act and then again (b) with the 2^nd Appeal dt.07^th March 2009 u/s 19 (3) of the Act.

Now even at the Complaint stage, it should have been possible for the I.C. to call for the certified copy of the pages of the dak registry register for scrutinizing the relevant entries of the dates of delivery of the two documents as indicated by the postal authorities in their certificate of delivery. These were denied to the applicant and obviously concealed by the Public authority lest the truth about their delivery to them should come out in the open to their great embarrassment and consternation.. The I.C willing, even now, it should be possible to get to the truth about their delivery in the first instance. Soon Mr.I.C will know that the representatives of the Public authority have taken him for a ride as much as they duped the Appellant by denying him the requested information provided, of course, he is interested in getting to the truth of the matter even now. It is not for nothing that the competent postal authority has certified the delivery of both the medical claims and documents to the addressee- Public authority and the certificate issued by the Postal authorities in this regard is after all not lying. It is the representatives of the Public Authority who have been lying all the way.. Does it not look eminently odd to you, Mr. I.C.Sir, that out of the two claims, sent from two different post offices on two different dates not a single one could be delivered to the addressee Public authority? And if it really does look odd to you, what prevented you from delving in the truth of the matter in the interests of justice and fair-play? The appellant does not assume( as you have stated) that the claims exist with the respondents; he is dead sure that they do and the Respondents are denying only because being in the denial mode absolves them of all their responsibilities, particularly when the I.C is willing to accommodate their blatant lies even though they do not stand either the scrutiny of the educed and produced evidence or the circumstances of the case. “Relying on lying” is the Mantra that has unfailingly assured them the safe escape route several times in the past as well. No reason for them to believe that will not work now.

The fact of the matter is that both these documents have been duly delivered to the public authority in due course as certified by the competent postal authorities, their entry also duly recorded by the registry of the public authority but the copies of the relevant portion of their recorded entries were not supplied either to the Appellant or to the I.C for the obvious reasons.

The P.I.O must have his very sound reasons to firmly believe that no harm will ever come to him whatever may be the gravity of the offense(s) he commits. And somehow, he is proving abundantly right in his secured beliefs as is evident from this and quite a few other such cases. Siding with the P.I.O( he can not do otherwise), the AA suggests that the Appellant should “bring copies of all relevant papers pertaining to the case/claim if available with him as these may help to resolve the case”. Does he not know that in medical reimbursement case all the papers most of them in original duly verified by the treating medical doctor, original cash memos duly verified , Certificate A signed by the treating medical officer all are required to be submitted with the claim in one go, so “what (other) relevant papers with the appellant” he is talking about.? Instead of going through the few entries on and after the dates of the receipt of the documents as indicated in the certificate of the Postal authority, certificate of their delivery, in the Registry’s dak register, he makes wild and meaningless suggestions; just to shift the onus on to the appellant. And instead of calling the bluff of the AA, the I.C himself joins him by making similar suggestions eschewing the obvious course of action in such circumstances i.e. to educe the truth of the matter and locate the documents in the office of the Public authority.

This could be done even now, only if the I.C. is interested in getting to the truth of the matter. Instead, even after all these abundantly clear indications of the malafide intentions and ulterior motives of the representatives of the Public authority, he suggests that the appellant should have wasted his time, money and energy going on a wild goose chase in the office of the Public authority, only to return totally disgusted, disgruntled and disappointed- a distraught person.

Further, he considers it “eminently reasonable that appellant provides to the respondents a fresh set of documents relating to his medical reimbursement claim”. Can he tell him from where he should get them (from Respondent’s office?)

Entries of the receipt in the Medical claims in the records of the Public Authority’s registry ought to have been scanned, in the first instance, immediately on the receipt of the request of the Appellant. With the needful done at appropriate time, the claims submitted by him more than a year ago, would have been settled long back by now. But who cares? With the I.C. thus solidly backing them where is the need for doing the needful even now?

A team member has rightly observed: “There is something more than what meets the eyes”

What line of action should the appellant now take- Any suggestions? I know of a similar case, where Hon’ble Delhi High Court granted total reimbursement of the Medical claim to the claimant in the similar circumstances, but then not everybody has got that kind of money, energy and time to spend in agitating the law at that stage.

- SANJOG MAHESHWARI

Fwd: Public Cause Research Foundation No.FK/Fb/CIC-Ant/2009/143

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Dear Mr. Kejariwal: Wonder if you could consider instituting awards on the lines of the Ignoble Award as well for such cases as are being processed by clever dodger P.I.Os/ F.A.As culminating in atrocious decisions at the highest level with no further remedy left for the grossly aggrieved Info-Seekers, whose number could be a legend. I am sure this type of Awards would be welcome by many and meet with resounding success.Warm regards.-

LESS CARS;LESSER BABIES

PARKING PROBLEM – AN OFFSHOOT OF LOP-SIDED DEVELOPMENT

-SANJOG MAHESHWARI.

Though the third world war is certainly not going to be fought over the parking space- “water” being far more a serious contender- the already severely limited parking space in almost all the Metropolises, getting increasingly shrunk by the day, is sure going to cause nightmares to the harried citizens. Add to it the severely congested roads used by incessantly tensed drivers with frayed tempers, shouting and fighting all through the way to their destination and you get the big picture. The family would be thanking God for his small mercies, if their near and dear ones drive back home in one piece, even after being involved in an ugly incidence of road rage, accident and/ or a bloody brawl for the road-space- the things likely to become a matter of routine in not too distant future. One wonders, why the ever-rising graph of incidences of violent road-rage and fatal or near-fatal road- accidents does not ring alarm bells for the policy-planners and those in authority?

The neighbours fight like sworn enemies for limited parking space within block areas in residential colonies of big cities. Parks within them need to be reconverted into parking ground to meet the hugely increased demand for the parking space.

And now, with the small Nano and other small models, looming large all set to flood the vehicle market in a big way, the crisis will further deepen. Not only the arterial roads of the big cities but even the dirt roads of the countryside small towns and villages will get the taste of congestion, pollution and what not? Of course, the cash-rich farmers of the States in the neighbourhood of Delhi will continue to move in their swanky cars, as hitherto, but others will certainly go for Nano in a big way. Don’t be surprised if, some years from now, going for a morning walk, you are accosted by a beggar driving a second-third hand battered Nano, with his one hand on the steering wheel and the other jutted out of the window, holding a bowl thrust right under your nose: “Pitrool ke vaastey paisa dey dey, Baboo.” (Spare some money for filling the car, please).

The situation right now is very grim indeed. With the Nano and other newer models swarming down on the roads of our cities, like locusts, the bad will get to worse in near future. Less said about the spiraling atmospheric pollution, the better.Western countries have already labelled us as the bad boy of the climate change talks and are pressurizing us to cut down our greenhouse gas emissions As J.R.R Tolkien. aptly puts it in his book Lord of the Rings, we should "........uproot the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till". America has decided to take tough measures to tackle vehicular emissions. Those when implemented would reduce polluting emissions from vehicles by more than 1/3rd. And that would be equivalent to removing about 18 crore cars from the U.S. roads by 2016. Alarm bells are already ringing for our country, the world’s fifth largest Green House Gas emitter, responsible for about 6 percent of global emissions. Even so, here mere vehicle emission cuts won’t serve the purpose; even though per unit vehicular emission in our country averages substantially more than that of the U.S.A.This certainly, is not the type of growth or development that we should strive for. We should put a cap on car manufacture to curtail its production The dictates of the emerging situation are loud and clear: Far more than flyovers and roads, we need to create parking lots, not only in and around office-complexes but more so within residential colonies and blocks and that may entail converting many a city parks into parking-lots on priority, besides constructing multi-level parking facilities..

While the alarm bells have been ringing for quite sometime now, one wonders why the government and the policy planners are not hearing? Why are they not seeing the writing on the wall in bold relief and looking the other way when the urban landscape of the country is getting uglier by the day- chocked with mindless unplanned and grotesque development? All the big cities are bursting at their seams; severely straining the extremely fragile infrastructure. This prosperity for less than 10% has robbed the middle-class India off its tranquil, peaceful quality life infesting it instead with perpetual tension-filled days (and nights) with no respite in sight. The quality of life of middle-class India should not be sacrificed at the altar of higher and higher standard of living which unplanned development as ours ensures for the 10% rich of the country, who corner its 90% wealth while the teeming millions live below the poverty line. Thus broadly speaking, the quality of life of the nation as a whole deteriorates if the development is not tempered with equitable distribution on the national wealth as has been the case with our country ever since independence. As of now, consumerism and diabolical materialism reign supreme. If the ancient Indian wisdom and the accumulated experience of millennia are to be believed, happiness lies in minimizing the wants and, not in multiplying them.

Population explosion in a country as mismanaged and as misgoverned as India is akin to extending an open invitation to the ghost of Malthus which, even otherwise, resurrects here, off and on, in the form of deaths and devastation in terror attacks, endemics, epidemics, wars, pestilence, diseases, floods, accidents, poverty and starvation driven suicides, murders, pre-mature deaths ( our maternal and infant mortality rate is just about the highest in the world and the average life expectancy little over 60), increasing Naxalite- and now sitting at the doorstep the “Taliban” -insurgency and violence and endless such maladies so much so that human life has become the cheapest commodity in our country.

Only the rich and the politicians are benefited by the growth of human capital which they gleefully welcome. To the former it guarantees cheap labour-force and an inflated number of gullible consumers and to the latter a swelled minority (read Muslim) vote-bank. And all that at the cost of the poor and the middle-class whose poverty and miseries get compounded with each addition of an Australia every year to our population. No wonder, the rich and the politicians incessantly sing virtues of being “many” through their handsomely paid writers, ghost-writers and ever-obliging press and electronic media, caring a hoot for the miseries and depravities caused thereby to the remaining teeming millions.

Sadly, in the big cities and the Metropolises, the car has left the domain of being a luxury to become a necessity - a commodity needed for the very survival in an extremely busy city life. No more are they needed just for convenience and comfort, as used to be only a couple of decades back. No wonder, if the phenomenon of rear to rear driven cars in a lengthy beetle-like formation crawling their way on the busy city roads, all the time blenching volumes of carbon-dioxide and other poisonous gases in the atmosphere, honking and competing for every inch of the road space, soon becomes an unalterable part of the busy city life. Long traffic-jams and snarl-ups at every next turn of a road, are right now here to stay. Sad and lamentable; they call this horrible phenomenon:-“development” and every politician and political party swear by it.

While the government and all those policy-planners know it fully well that the root cause of all maladies is the unbridled growth of population, they seldom talk about it, let alone taking necessary measures to control it. Why the successive governments have been shying away from taking the most stringent measures that are urgently called for in order to contain and control the burgeoning population? Why are they not enforcing small family norms by meting out extremely harsh and deterrent punishments, disincentives and penalties to the defaulters, just as in China? Is not the politics of minority (read Muslim) vote bank also, directly or indirectly, responsible for it?

Do extra-ordinary maladies not require extra-ordinary solutions?

-SANJOG MAHESHWARI

THE SCIENTIST WHO GAVE US THE "INTERNET".

While recounting the glory of five achievers in the field of I.T., Sh. L.K.Advaniji, in one of his blog-posts, overlooked the contributions of the British Computer software genius- Tim Berners Lee- the creator of he World Wide Web (w.w.w) popularly known as the "Internet",which is nothing short of a marvel. This development has dramatically changed our daily lives. About two decades back, in March 1989 to be precise, Mr. Berners Lee, scientist at European Particle Physics Laboratory CERN presented a paper titled "Information Management: A Proposal". It attracted the experts' comments: "Vague,but Exciting". The proposed project was, however,approved. One thing led to another and there was no looking back for Mr.Berners-Lee and his team of dedicated scientists. They drew up "http; -The global hypertext Language used in the website addresses. Very next year, they came up with the first web browser. Recently, Mr. Berners-Lee who still heads the World Wide Web Consortium, besides holding other prestigious positions in the leading Research Centres of U.S.A. and Britain, took part in the Commemoration Celebrations of the earth-shattering event at the CERN H.Qs. in Geneva. -SANJOG MAHESHWARI.

RTI CASES GO NOWHERE

SANJOG MAHESHWRI

R.T.I. cases go nowhere

- SANJOG MAHESHWARI

That which is good enough for us is that which is not too bad. It is good enough for us that not so long ago, the Congress-led U.P.A. Government enacted and enshrined a theoretically good law called Right to Information Act 2005 in the statute book. Quite expectedly, the people lapped it up in the fond belief that now they are empowered to conduct social audit and make some contribution towards ushering in a corruption-free society and smashing India’s image as one of the five most corrupt countries of the world. People began asking questions under the RTI Act., not always comfortable to those in the authority. And that marked the beginning of the end of the short term euphoria of the people. The bureaucracy took it as an affront to their thus far unquestioned supremacy and authority. They are there by their own right to ask questions; not to give answers and offer explanations. When were they taught answering questions and queries?

The foot-dragging officialdom, already past-master in the art of dodging devised umpteen ways to evade giving correct and complete reply to the uncomfortable queries with total impunity. The initial fear, if at all was there, soon evaporated and vanished in thin air when they learnt that there had been no such political will to root out corruption through the RTI Act, in the first place. It was the political compulsion of the ruling Congress-led U.P.A. Government that gave birth to the Act. After-all, how could they tolerate their predecessor, the BJP-led NDA government legislating for the first time ever in free India a people-friendly and empowering law like Freedom of Information Act 2002 and get away with all the credit for it? That credit must necessarily be jacked and snatched from them. They decided to make some changes in the law to make it look more progressive, participatory and meaningful for the appearance sake only and to repeal the Freedom of Information Act-2002 and to enact another law under the title RTI Act-2005. So, the Act born out of the political-compulsions-as against political-will of the UPA government- is heavily laced with political overtones.

When the genesis of the new law became clear to the bureaucracy, they started cultivating their own bright ideas to subvert and circumvent its people-empowering provisions in so many ingenious ways, which were very easy for them to devise, but left quite a few information-seekers baffling and fuming at their complete and total helplessness in securing the information and documents even after spending a fortune for them and toiling hard for years on end in pursuit of the justice. Though most of the people have long seen through the game but they have been and still are totally helpless to do anything about it particularly because the clever bureaucracy has made it a point to provide any or every information or document, if asked for by some political heavyweight, N.G.O. or an otherwise bigwig.

However, nothing prevents the ruling class still to show-case it as one of its so-called “achievements” in the run-up of general elections.

While the Right to Information Act-2005 was thus brought on the Statute Book, professedly, for effectuating the right to information recognized under Article 19 of the Constitution of India and came into force with effect from 12^th October, 2005, the ground realties have an altogether different story to tell.

Pensioner Mr. R filed application seeking certified copies of his Service Book & Leave Account, P.P.O and some information regarding his leave encashment details retiral dues and arrears. About two years roll by NOT a scrap of relevant material, document and information has been made available to him by the Public Information Officer of the Public authority of a Central Government autonomous body- the custodian of the requested records and information.. The Central Information Commissioner in his order on the 2^nd Appeal of the information seeker advises the applicant to help locate the records and information, and (closes the appeal?) at the Commission’s end. The Public authority cleverly attempts to evade the responsibility by misinterpreting these orders to mean that the applicant information seeker must provide them copies of certain hypothetical documents of unspecified description which, he neither has nor is supposed to have for the simple reason that the custodian of all manner of such records and documents is also the same Public authority from which the information and the requested documents are being sought and not the information seeker himself. While there is no provision of any such quid pro quos in the Act, which simply mandates to provide all the requested information and documents, not otherwise specifically barred, on payment of the prescribed fees and charges, the authorities that be arrogate to themselves all powers to bully and harass the information seeker and deny him the sought information and documents with impunity in spite of the Law. Even after more than a year his application for special leave to review the order filed with the Chief Information Commissioner has not drawn any response from the Commission and there is no light for the information seeker at the end of the tunnel. The same is the case with his medical reimbursement bills amounting to about Rs.5000/-. While the two bills were sent under the Speed Post from two different Post Offices on two different dates within a period of one month and the Public Authority is feigning complete ignorance about them despite of providing all proves obtained from the Postal authorities confirming their delivery to the office of the public authority. The C.I.C with whom the Complaint u/s 18 of the Act was lodged in the case, has been looking the other way. As for the former case, the crowning irony is: Instead of providing the requested records and information as mandated under the Act, the custodian of the records and the information i.e. the concerned public authority it-self is asking for -not even vaguely specified- documents and information from the information seeker himself. For the reasons better known to him only, the Central Information commissioner finds nothing wrong in it, considers such a move “reasonable” and, in the ultimate show of justice-delivery, absolves the custodian from his bounden duty and responsibility of providing the requested documents and information and, slams, for good, the doors of justice for the poor information seeker. Poorer by a few hundred rupees and more frustrated than ever before he is back to square one, licking his wounds while an already hugely hostile and immensely infuriated mighty public authority gets still more hostile against the information seeker who is then punished for the sin of requesting for information and documents so very vital and important for him. He does not have deep pockets to follow it up in the courts of law.

Ours is the most difficult country for getting justice even if one has been wronged. Whether it is so because of or in spite of all those empowering Laws; only God knows. If you feel that you have been rubbed on the wrong side by an executive action, your best bet is to suffer in silence and never ever invite still more trouble by agitating the appropriate Law.

R’s is not an isolated case. Quite a few have walked along his path and suffered the similar fate. In fact, barring those filed by the N.G.Os, powerful and influential persons, politicians, activists and organizations, almost every other filed by some Nobody is condemned to a similar fate and has a similar sordid story to narrate.

Once the activist late H.D.Shourie of Common Cause invited victims who suffered injustice at the hands of consumer courts to narrate their stories to him and was astounded to find that there were so many who lost only because they could not observe a few trivial formalities and technicalities. Is there any other Sourie around to compile such a list of ill-fated information-seekers who strove hard to get justice from the Information Commissions only to be greeted by disappointment after a frustrating experience of treading a labyrinthine course in quest for justice under the much touted “ Right to Information Act- 2005? For Mr. Nobody invariably there is darkness at the end of the tunnel. And that will remain like that till the Act is thoroughly revamped and the officialdom sheds its colonial days mind-set and recognizes our system of governance as “democracy.”

Are the activists and those in the authority also listening?

-SANJOG MAHESHWARI

'WHO THE NEXT P.M.?'

SANJOG MAHESHWARI

- WHO THE NEXT P.M.?-

-SANJOG MAHESHWARI

The general elections are on us. While as of now, BJP is having a clear edge over the Congress Party- its nearest or rather only -rival in the electoral race, the party will be well advised not to let its guards down as the latter has unfailingly demonstrated its uncanny ability to turn the table on the former in such matters at the eleventh hour- the BJP’s Delhi Assembly election debacle is still fresh in the public memory.

In the run-up of the general elections, the events unfolding also do not portend well for the Party. The President rubbished the Chief Election Commissioner’s recommendations for the removal of Mr. Navin Chawla. Come 20^th April, with the change of guards at Nirvaachan Bhawan, he gets elevated to the post of the Chief Election Commissioner, with the incumbent Chief retiring on the day. And whether the BJP likes it or not CBI, is not as independent an agency, as it is projected. There are other well-known factors also- do not require specific mention- that inhibit the party’s chances to the winning post. Add to them the Congress’s proven capability to spike the guns and you get the picture.

There are, however, many important firsts to the credit of the B.J.P. leadership. It is the first time ever that any leader of eminence has so emphatically made known his commitment to bring back trillions of black money parked by Indians in the foreign banks. The first time that some concern has been shown about rampant corruption, illegal immigration particularly of Bengladeshis and, combating terrorism in a determined and not half-hearted manner. And the first time ever that a prime-ministerial candidate proposed an American model debate on T.V. among the aspirants to the highest post thereby ushering in a very healthy and relevant tradition for all times to come. In fact, there should be series of debates to enable people to judge: “Who is the best?” Talking about development is easy. Root out the corruption and the development will follow automatically, as the day follows the night, without the government doing anything about it. Given the corruption-free environment, we, the people of India, are capable of bringing it about even without any assistance from the Government. Our contribution in this regard has been recognized and rewarded in the alien countries like the U.S of America. There is no reason why we cannot enact the feat here in our country provided, of course, the government ensures a zero-corruption environment. What, however, baffles one and all: Why the B.J.P. is not demonstrating the same zeal and determination to combat the mother of the most, if not all, of our most besetting problems: ‘the burgeoning population’ in the way China has done it? In fact, no political party has ever taken a very serious view of it, much as it deserves, ever since independence with the result that to our great horror and dismay, each year a Australia gets added to our population. Further, while the ever widening, yawning gap, gets wider by the day, between ‘the haves’ and ‘the have-nots’ no serious plan is on the agenda of any party to change the scenario and bring about an equitable distribution of wealth. However, for the obvious reasons, the B.J.P is seen as the only political party willing to and capable of tackling the horrific problem of terrorism- both home-grown and imported – effectively thereby ensuring maximum possible security to the people. Ditto to the other two maladies mentioned above.

Writing in his ‘Malice’ Column in the Hindustan Times, the veteran journalist Khushwant Singh broached the tricky subject: “Who the Next P.M.?” (Malice Column H.T. 28^th March). In his inimitable style, while saying otherwise, he has been more revealing in concealing the fact that the B.J.P is nearer to the winning post. He, however, attempts to drive home, rather convincingly, the home truth when he says, “A factor which may have a decisive impact on the relative electoral fortunes of the Congress party and the BJP will be the publication of the long-delayed Liberhan Commission Report…………” “.It will be like a time bomb: its explosion on the eve of the elections may swing the fortunes……….” Here Mr. Singh can hardly be blamed for being “off-the-mark.”

No doubt, the BJP presently is having a fairly good edge over the Congress party in this do or die battle of ballots -all reports suggesting to the contrary incessantly aired by the obviously biased electronic media and routinely flashed across the headlines in all the major National dailies; not withstanding. The electronic media in particular and the print media in general, barring a few exceptions, seem sold-out and as such their reports should be taken with loads of salt. However, the Congress leadership, that is past master in the art of springing surprises at the appropriate time and place, may get the balance tilted in its favour, slamming the chances of quite a few BJP hopefuls at the eleventh hour. And these surprises could be either in the form of a damning Liberhan Commission Report and/ or some other damaging revelation(s), not necessarily true, though otherwise, sufficiently packed with powerful punches. The Congress party could be keeping its “Brahmastras” for the right moment- the time bombs cleverly timed to explode on the eve of elections to the great chagrin and consternation of, till then, an upbeat BJP leadership. Thus, the possibility of the BJP winning quite a few battles yet losing the war can not entirely be ruled out and the party should, in its own interests, has to be very cautious till the final step at the winning post. The caution does not cost but saves from unpleasant surprises.

While on the subject a look at the big picture would be in order. In case, contrary to all expectations, the Congress party wins, it may not be the end of all the surprises and suspense. The proclaimed P.M choice of the party, Dr. Man Mohan Singh may not run or allowed to run his full term. Sooner than expected, he could be replaced by the crown prince Rahul Gandhi; when in a surprise move, the Doctor, not quite unexpectedly, may quit on health grounds, paving way for the waiting-in-the-wings, hopeful to ascend the thrown. Of course, the sacrifice is not likely to go unrewarded. A high-profile lucrative foreign assignment for his loyalty to the family could be waiting for him up for grabs.

In this context it would be pertinent to mention that right from the day one it was abundantly clear that this system of democratic governance is totally incapable of delivering good and clean governance. The things, however, have been getting bad to worse by the day for the common man who has now lost all faith in the system. On an earlier occasion also, Mr. Singh in his column, alluded to the similar opinion expressed by some serious political thinkers, including the past leaders and M.Ps , in an interview session claimed to have conducted by him in which they advocated replacing of this debased Westminster type of Parliamentary democracy by the American model of Presidential system. The sooner it is done, the better it would be for the health and well being of Indian democracy and the common citizenry. How can several century old system of democratic governance, that is just about okay for a small island country like England, work without yielding negative results and disastrous consequences for the common citizenry in a country like India, which is more than ten times both in size and population of England and having a completely different social order and set-up, polity and a plural societal structure? So far as our country is concerned, in the backdrop of vastly changed circumstances and times, this system can possibly be used only for the constitution of Gram Panchaayats or Gram Sabhas but certainly not for constituting institutions like Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies. Since the proposed big change runs counter to the deeply entrenched self-interests of every politician, they shiver at the very thought of it; let alone getting it replaced by the American model. The intelligentsia and the common citizenry must, therefore, suffer in silence.

The common men who have already suffered too much and for too long, are a totally disillusioned lot now. Should Pappu then be blamed, if he demonstrates his anger, anguish, resentment and revolt against the system and shows his total disapproval of it by the only way he perhaps knows and can: not casting his vote at all? (Still there is no provision for a NEGATIVE VOTE “None of the above” button in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). His grouse is not against any particular politician or political party but the system itself, the inbuilt mechanism of which, has successively denied him the clean and efficient government so far and so long, thereby making his life more and more miserable by the day. This system ensures that the best man does not run. The question of his winning does not arise at all.

All our politicians are not corrupt and inefficient but the system makes them so. Contrast it by the American model where without a single exception, every successive President incessantly strove hard and fast, to the best of his ability, to promote and safeguard the interests of America and Americans, caring two hoots for what the rest of the world thought about him; bowed out of the office and vacated the White House for his successor to occupy on the fixed date, after remaining in the office and in the White House for his fixed term of four years only, unless otherwise elected for just another fixed term of equal duration at the end of which he must go for good; howsoever brilliant, efficient and capable he may be.

The former President George Bush, the then incumbent of the highest and the mightiest office in the world, is helpless before the American law and looks the other way while his daughter cools her heels behind the prison bars for the offense of drunken-driving. That is the rule of democracy in the real sense of the word; ours can at best be called ‘ Mobocracy’ or ‘Mobocrazy’, if I am permitted to coin the latter term to define what exactly the political climate of our country is.

-SANJOG MAHESHWARI