‘Corrupt babus, netas bigger menace than hired assassins’

The Gujarat HC has said that corruption is undeniably the sole factor that has arrested the progress of our society towards prosperity, and that corrupt officials and politicians are a greater menace to society than hired assassins. The actions of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats have spurred economic unrest in the country, it said.

n the order, denying prearrest bail to the superintendent of LG Hospital, Dr R C Shah — who has been suspended on the charges of bribery — Justice J B Pardiwala observed: “If...a developing country faces a menace greater than even the one from hired assassins, it is from the corrupt elements at the higher echelons of the government and political parties.”

In an order, released on Thursday, denying pre-arrest bail to the superintendent of LG Hospital, Dr R C Shah — who has been suspended on the charges of bribery — Justice J B Pardiwala observed: “If...a developing country faces a menace greater than even the one from hired assassins, it is from the corrupt elements at the higher echelons of the government and political parties.” The LG Hospital is run by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

Justice Pardiwala said that if even a fraction of what people say about the magnitude of corruption is true, then it would not be far removed from truth to say that “rampant corruption is indulged with impunity by highly placed persons”.

Justice Pardiwala exhorted the judiciary to become strict in granting pre-arrest bail to officials who face graft

charges. “The grant of anticipatory bail in corruption matters involving public servants should be in the rarest of rare cases,” he said. “If liberty is to be denied to an accused to ensure corruption-free society, then the courts should not hesitate to deny such liberty.” Justice Pardiwala further said: “Why should a corrupt public servant, who is not only a menace to society but also a potential threat to the progress of the country, be shown any indulgence by the court of law by granting him protection in the form of anticipatory bail?”

Justice Pardiwala made it clear that the courts must ensure that the rights of the accused are protected, but this should not defeat the cause of public justice. “Over a period of time, a feeling seems to exist in some quarters that the object of criminal law is to protect the rights of the accused and that the criminal justice system is envisioned as a sentinel of the rights of the accused,” Justice Pardiwala said. “It is not so. The law is the sentinel of rights of society and of the individual.”