26 Jun 2017  |   06:27am IST

A sledge hammer to crack a nut

Talk about using a sledge hammer to crack a nut – the case reported in the Herald of the LDC clerk caught taking a bribe of Rs 300 is a case in point.

Talk about using a sledge hammer to crack a nut – the case reported in the Herald of the LDC clerk caught taking a bribe of Rs 300 is a case in point. 

The authorities have raised a staggering 343-page charge-sheet and have listed 55 witnesses to prove their case. I would really love to see what the 343-page report is all about? Did they need 55 witnesses to prove their case? 

In the same newspaper – The London Judge has postponed Vijay Mallya case to December as the Indian authorities have not submitted the papers on time, to justify extradition. This case has been registered in 2014 and the charge-sheet was issued 3 years later for the staggering sum of Rs 9000 crores. The employees of King Fisher are still crying as their salaries were not paid. The Banks are in a quandary not knowing how to recover their loans. Yet the authorities cannot get their papers in order though 3 years have gone by.

 It appears that this case is going to take a long time to settle as Mallya has arranged a battery of legal experts to fight his case – so more money down the tube.

There are innumerable cases where there is indisputable evidence involving lakhs / crores of rupees –though complaints have been filed – no charge-sheet has yet been raised though years have gone by. I don’t think there is any doubt, that if you have political patronage in our country, you can literally get away with murder.

Yet we talk about weeding out corruption, therefore we need of demonetisation; Draconian rules to nab Income tax evaders; GST to streamline the tax regime.  It is time we become more aware of our constitutional rights and fight the system that claims to help the common man.

IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar