Commentary/T V R Shenoy

Advani was the only one with enough faith in the judiciary to seek justice in an actual court of law

The Hindu New Year's Day fell on April 8 this year. The Bharatiya Janata Party celebrated appropriately.

Men who observe the old traditions would have taken a sliver of neem leaf and a little sugar. No, there is no superstition involved. It is simply a reminder that one must take the bitter with the sweet.

So what does that have to do with the BJP? Well, the party received two pieces of news on this day -- one a bitter pill to swallow, but the other more than making up for it.

The bad news was Shankarsinh Vaghela's victory. (Victory indeed! A margin of 13,000 votes after abusing the official machinery is nothing to boast about.)

The good news was the Delhi high court's dismissal of the charges against L K Advani. He is now free to resume his career in Parliament.

The BJP president's exile was self-imposed. Please remember he wasn't the only one chargesheeted in the hawala case. Madhavrao Scindia, Buta Singh, Kamal Nath, Sharad Yadav -- the list could go on forever. But none of them followed Advani's example.

With varying degrees of success, these men appealed to the 'people's court.' Why aren't Kamal Nath and Buta Singh behind bars now that the 'people's court' has given its judgment?!

Advani was the only one with enough faith in the judiciary to seek justice in an actual court of law. His trust has been vindicated. It took the system just over a year to lift the yoke off his shoulders.

Most of the credit for this must go to the plaintiff himself. The normal course is to take advantage of every loophole, so that the case drags on forever. (The decade-old Churhat Lottery case, involving Arjun Singh, is still far from ending.)

The result is there for everyone to see. A corrupt politician has a better than even chance of getting away. I have been doing some research into the matter, and the results are horrifying.

Who was the first member of the central legislature to be expelled after being charged with taking bribe?

The answer is a gentleman named Mudgal. No, he wasn't in either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. Mudgal was a member of the Constituent Assembly.

Who was the first politician in post-Independence India to be jailed for corruption?

The answer is Shivendra Bahadur Singh -- better known today as Arjun Singh's father.

Believe it or not, both men are unique. No other MP has been expelled for taking money. No other politician was jailed for graft. Not one politician has been convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Does India have the cleanest leaders in the world? I don't believe that. Nor, I bet, do the vast majority of Indians.

So why haven't more of our beloved leaders received their just desserts? The polite answer is that politicians are naturally inclined to extend a 'professional courtesy' to fellows in trouble.

There is good reason for this -- they never knew when they might need such favours themselves. This practice reached new heights in the day of the last Congress government.

Laloo Prasad Yadav's followers, for instance, point out that P V Narasimha Rao was more 'friendly' than H D Deve Gowda. They have a point -- the fodder scam began years ago, but it is only today that a serious investigation is on.

The 'protection racket' works both ways. And this, I am convinced, is the true reason why the Congress moves heaven and earth to prevent the BJP from coming to power.

The 13-day Vajpayee ministry barely had time to breathe. But it still found enough time to put the urea scam probe on a firm official footing. Congressmen shuddered at the thought of what else that ministry would have done.

They had reason to be scared. Reliable sources say over a hundred Congress MPs are being investigated today, or are potential targets of investigation. And that includes all but two members of the mighty Congress Working Committee.

The United Front was a safer option. Congressmen were more comfortable with men like, say, P Chidambaram. The finance ministry has whitewashed the banker who wrote off over Rs 13 billion in an election year -- and declared the names of the loan recipients a state secret!

Unfortunately, Prime Minister Deve Gowda didn't follow the script. He didn't really encourage the investigating agencies. But nor did he stand in their way. This is the true origin of the current political drama.

Politicians find it easy to blame the judicial process for moving so slowly. But, as Advani showed, it is possible to obtain speedy justice.

Why don't others follow his example? Unless, of course, justice is the last thing they want!

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