A former Election Commissioner’s day in a Patna Court
In a season of protests against paper leaks and manipulations in examinations, I found myself last week “caught” in a recruitment scam. My crime? Signing a letter in April 2009 conveying the Home Minister’s (HM) permission to prosecute an Inspector General (IG) of the Central Reserve Police Force. The HM was himself “recruited” after his predecessor resigned following the November 26, 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai. It was conceivable in those days to see ministers suffering for the “failure to perform”. The HM wanted to fix accountability and revamp the recruitment system of the central paramilitary forces as the CBI unearthed the scam. The permission to prosecute the IG-in-charge was for enforcing accountability. Later, the recruitment process was reformed by converting the written test for constables into an OMR-based test, while the interview was abolished to avoid discretion, and the physical eligibility test was made more stringent. I never thought that signing the letter would haunt me 17 years later and give me the opportunity to see why Charles Dickens wrote, “the law is an …
