Behind Bars For Greasy Palms

They rose to the rank of chief secretaries but that did not save them from prosecution.

- Mudit Mathur

Once, they used to call the shots, considering themselves to be above the law, leading luxurious lifestyles. Now, dingy jail barracks are their destiny. This is what happens when the law takes its course.

Two former chief secretaries of Uttar Pradesh are in jail because of corruption cases against them, quite a humbling experience for those who once exuded the arrogance of power. When the trial in the Noida plot allotment scam reached its logical conclusion, two top IAS officers found themselves convicted. The Allahabad High Court upheld their convictions. Now they have gone to the Supreme Court in appeal.

Meanwhile, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam trial has been dragging on for many years. Here too, senior bureaucrats are facing accusation of bribery and corruption.

Corruption in the bureaucracy of the largest north Indian state came into prominence in 1996, when some young and honest officers came together under the banner of the UP IAS Association. As part of a self-cleansing exercise, they held a vote to identify the three most corrupt bureaucrats among themselves. The spark of the idea came from Income Tax raids on houses of some IAS officers. Twenty years later, the activism of conscientious members of the cadre is a thing of the past. Most of them have become mute spectators as high-level political and administrative corruption rules.