S K Bhalla
Yesterday only, the prime minister gave a clarion call to join hands in fight against corruption. On the national TV it was being telecast that corrupt people should not be saved. Reportedly, he was taking a jibe at Lalu on the one hand but shaking hands with Farooq Abdullah on the other hand. A fellow commented that this is only lip service.
Anyhow, Sunday has been another black day in the modern history of J&K as the former chief secretary of J&K, Mr. Brij Raj Sharma was painted in the poorest light by the local press. Sharma who was unceremoniously edged out by his closest chum, who succeeded him as CS, is now cooling his heels at Delhi. Lost in the crowd in the national capital but here he was a king. A local court of Additional Session Judge passed an order to invoke section 351 of J&K Code of Criminal Procedure to proceed against him while another ex-public servant Mr. I S Malhi has been bracketed with the accused in legal terminology. For the readers of this esteemed daily it shall be apt to quote section 351 which reads:
1 “Any person attending a criminal court, although not under arrest or upon a summons, may be detained by such court for the purpose of enquiry into a trial of any offence of which such court can take cognizance and which, from the evidence, may appear to been committed, and may be proceeded against as though he had been arrested or summoned.”
- “When the detention takes place after a trial has begun, the proceeding in respect of such person shall be commenced afresh, and the witnesses reheard.”
Section 5 (1) (d) of PC Act r/w Section 420 and 201 of RPC r/w Section 120 B of the Code have been slapped on Mr. Malhi by the learned judge in his wisdom. Permission for prosecution sanction of Mr. Sharma is one big headache as all attempts shall be made to delay the due process of law. SVO will put forth alibis as per our past experience but we at public CVC shall contribute our mite to ensure that sanction is accorded without any hassle. A very foul picture of entire bureaucracy has been indelibly marked on the minds of activists fighting against graft. For commoners, such cases are daily reported and no need to store the details in the memory bank.
Here it shall be apt to inform that Mr. B. R. Sharma is basically a resident of Kathua and did his graduation from MAM College, Jammu. Late Maulana Kalam shall be rolling in his grave that a college named after him has produced a corrupt chief secretary, mark my words. This writer being in the bad habit of sending ‘love-letters' to high and mighty in the worldly sense sent a few cases of corruption to him but Mr. Sharma did not have the courtesy to acknowledge. A few missives from PMO's office were also sent but at the top of his glory he would simply file the communications. “Hubris” of Greek Tragedy simply translated as pride is a satanic ingredient that does not allow one to dispense justice.
Anyhow, this is a small beginning. The end result shall be eagerly awaited in the days ahead so that some pollution of corruption is J&K is controlled.
