It is sickening. It is nauseating. It is vulgar. It is dirty. It is a sin and above all, it is a crime beyond any ameliorating circumstances. The punishment for this crime should be a real deterrent and must not take more than a month to award. I am talking about the crime committed by the Kolar SP, K. P. Puttaswamy, IPS, who was caught red - handed while taking a bribe of Rs.10, 000 from a civil Police Constable P.P. Prakash by the Bangalore Lokayukta Police on November 27.

When the crime was committed in Kolar, how is it that the Bangalore Lokayukta took action? This is not a million dollar question. This is a million dollar shame on the honesty and integrity of our Police force itself (honourable exceptions are honourably exempted here).

I understand the reason is that the Lokayukta Police officers in Kolar are too compassionate and considerate in nabbing criminals and corrupt persons in their own turf (department). Earlier, three attempts were made to catch this cornucopia of a corrupt person called Puttaswamy, but he was alerted in time. Thus the local Lokayukta failed in its mission.

Kolar SP Puttaswamy

Constable Prakash, the victim of Puttaswamy’s greed, avarice and craving for money knew this very well. It was for this reason, he had to approach the Bangalore Lokayukta (Phone: 9845000022). Naturally this time, the Lokayukta operation was a complete success.

Complainant Mr. P. P. Prakash

Think of the depth of demand from Puttaswamy and you will know how fathomless it is. I am reminded of a Tamil film Anniyan. The Constable Prakash had already given Rs.25, 000 as bribe (which in fact is also an offence). But the greedy SP, Puttaswamy, in order to make a killing out of this Constable seeking permission for voluntary retirement from service under VRS, recommended his dismissal. This made the Constable nervous as he would lose his pension and other benefits. P. P. Prakash, the Constable, now aged 47, hailing from South Kodagu, near Ponnampet (Pullangada family) served in the Indian Army Signals for seven years and then joined the Police Department in Kolar and has served for 20 years.

Of late, he was not keeping good health and hence took “medical permission” for 13 months leave — sick leave. It appears he was supposed to submit a Doctor’s certificate from time to time during this period. He did not do so as it is not compulsory, and rarely insisted upon, he says.

However, in this case the Kolar SP K. P. Puttaswamy ordered a Departmental Enquiry (DE) against him. Realising that this enquiry would take at least 5 to 6 months to complete and as he was in a hurry to take VRS he decided to apologise for the inadvertent lapse. Subsequent to the apology submitted by him to the DE Officer, the Dy. SP, the DE was closed and the report sent to the Superintendent of Police, K.P. Puttaswamy.

See how greed for money tears away the human face of a human being. The Superintendent of Police, Puttaswamy, returning the file to the Enquiry Officer, the Dy. SP, asked him to re -examine the Departmental Enquiry.

Constable Prakash says that normally if one admits his fault, in cases such as this, no re - examination of DE is necessary.

However, Constable Prakash thought there was no use pursuing the path of law to get his VRS from an Officer like K. P. Puttaswamy and decided to talk to him. And he did. It was here he agreed to pay the demanded amount of Rs. 25,000 to this corrupt SP for two favours: (1) To withdraw the Departmental Enquiry after a warning and pardon. (2) To grant permission for the VRS.

After making this payment of Rs. 25,000, the Constable Prakash was happily waiting at his native place for VRS permission. However, after two months, to his utter shock he received a notice about his ‘Compulsory Retirement’ which tantamounted to dismissal from service.

He rushed to Kolar and met the Superintendent of Police, K.P. Puttaswamy, on 24th November when he was told: “Okay, I will see. (Aayitu Noduva)”

On further pleadings from the Constable, Puttaswamy wrote on a piece of paper just, “10,000” and spoke with his head and eyes pushing the paper towards the Constable to see the figure.

Since the Constable found the new demand too much for him to bear, he decided to retaliate. He knew there was no use complaining to the Kolar Lokayukta which could not trap this corrupt SP three times earlier on others' complaints. So Constable P. P. Prakash straight away went to Bangalore and met Roop Kumar Datta, the ADGP, a wonderful person who is known to attend to complaints promptly in confidence without any delay.

He knew, speed is the secret of success not only in love and war but also in Lokayukta operations. He immediately called another smart officer, Superintendent of Police (SP) Madhukar Shetty and lo and behold the operation was successful.

Prakash, the Constable, says that the Kolar SP had his moles in his office keeping an eye on the Lokayukta complainants and officers who may be around. In case of suspicion, information was passed on to him and the SP will not see such visitors.

Hence, this time the Bangalore Lokayukta got smart. Waiting at the SP's door to see him was a burqaclad lady Constable and a Police Sub - Inspector disguised as a Muslim with full makeup, wearing a beard hired from a clothier to dramas.

One more person was also there with bandages, dhoti and chappals who would see the SP only after his "Doddavaru" (elder) came there. Thus there was absolutely no room for suspicion for the Policemen on duty at the SP’s door. Since Prakash was already known, he was allowed in.

During the course of conversation, the Superintendent of Police K. P. Puttaswamy, alert and smart, told his supplicant Prakash “Naale Banni” [Come tomorrow] three times. Then Prakash gave the cover with the money inside, as pre - arranged by the Lokayukta. Puttaswamy instinctively stretched his hand to receive it but quickly withdrew, lifted a file, placed it on the table and asked Prakash to keep the cover below the file. The latter obliged. However, while handling the file Puttaswamy unknowingly touched the cover to push it properly under the file.

“I will call the GSA and get the file and ask him to do the needful”, said the SP who did not forget to speak aloud “Beda” (Don’t want) all the while taking care not to touch the cover or money. But to his bad luck he had already touched the cover, though unknowingly, rather accidentally.

Well, when Prakash came out, the Lokayukta walked in. Rest is “breaking news” in TV channels and headlines in newspapers.

And indeed the complainant P. P. Prakash did teach his corrupt boss a lesson which the people of our State think will be a lesson for the likes of K. P. Puttaswamy, IPS, in office. But no. Earlier, another Superintendent of Police, B. Srikantappa of Chamarajanagar too was trapped by the Lokayukta while receiving a bribe of Rs. 50,000 from a sand transporter against whom a charge sheet was filed.The sand transporter wanted Srikantappa to help him by filing a “B” report to the Court (“B” report is one where Police investigate the case and then file a report to the court saying there is no substance in the complaint or there is no prima facie case as such). The case will then be closed.

Interestingly, the same K. P. Puttaswamy was the Additional SP in Chamarajanagar at that time, when his boss B. Srikantappa was caught in the snare set by the Lokayukta. Yet, K. P. Puttaswamy, now SP at Kolar, did not learn any lesson from the past experience of his boss. Therefore, no matter how many Police officers the Lokayukta catches, it would be business as usual for these government officers including those of the IAS, IFS and IPS class.

It is said habits die hard. These two officers are from the Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) who rose to the rank of IPS after years of service in the lower rank. It is universally known corruption at the lower level in the Police force happens on a daily basis and therefore even after the elevation to the IPS, the habit must have continued, sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously, as if it is a natural part of the job. Habits indeed never die.

At another level, it is not as if those who enter service directly from IPS are not corrupt. If only a honest and aggressive investigation is made into the wealth amassed and properties acquired by these officers (including the benami angle), one will find a can of sinister worms crawling all over the place. While a Police Constable may collect on a daily basis a few hundred rupees and on occasions a few thousands, these IPS officers (exceptions apart) make a killing in one deal and like the Python which after swallowing an animal lies languidly for months, these officers strut around with an aura of honesty, till the next victim comes by.

Be that as it may, the point to ponder is whether the government’s recruitment policy, specially in departments like Police, Excise and Revenue, needs to be changed to ensure the kinds of B. Srikantappa and K. P. Puttaswamy are not recruited at all or promoted. In case they are recruited they must be dismissed from service if caught red-handed and found guilty, rather than merely suspending them, only to be reinstated later or let them off with minor punishment.

Just as in cases of rape or murder, the law relating to bail in cases of corruption too needs to be changed. The present law relating to bail for these offences seem to be very liberal and lax. When a person is sent to Judicial Custody, he is in jail only for a few hours. Soon he is shifted to a hospital under legal rigmarole and manipulation. Well, why not call it 'hospital custody' instead of “Judicial custody”?

Politicians, higher officials and the rich should be discouraged by the law courts from getting this "hospital custody". Consider this: a politician is arrested for some misdemeanour or offence. He is found in the pink of health at the time of his arrest. But suddenly when he is produced before the court, he feigns illness of severe nature like chest - pain, high blood pressure or even unbearable back ache. Next, we see him being taken to a super - specialty hospital ward in the name of judicial custody instead of being treated in the prison. The same has happened in the case of K. P. Puttaswamy too.

Indian Express dated 1st December, 2009 reported: "While in Kolar jail, he (K. P. Puttaswamy) reportedly complained of chest pain and was taken to hospital. Puttaswamy was later shifted to Jalappa Hospital at midnight and admitted in the VIP ward." A mockery of law and justice. A show of solidarity by the jail authorities and the doctors!

Considering the all - pervasive corruption in the Police Department, I have a lingering suspicion that most of the missing cases, murder cases, robbery cases, rape cases etc. are not detected at all, simply for the reason of corruption. Filing false complaints or threatening to file false complaint is another ploy employed by the Police. As a journalist, a number of people have come to me to get the complaint registered or if registered to get the case investigated. A couple of years back, the body of a small time planter in Kodagu was found hanging on a tree in the premises of the Race Club and despite the complaint, nothing happened. The persons named as suspects by the victim’s mother (a widow) and relatives were not even taken into custody for interrogation.

The victim’s relatives told me that the culprits had visited the jurisdictional Police Station in the city a couple of times. You can make your own inference.

The senior officers in the Police Department must review periodically all the undetected cases and put pressure on the Station House Officers to solve the cases and for this purpose periodically guide them. However, if the top officers themselves are of the Chamarajanagar SP B. Srikantappa’s kind or the Kolar SP K. P. Puttaswamy's kind, God only should help the complainant. I am not aware if there is a psychological test for the candidates who appear for public service examinations — like the IPS, IAS, KAS — to find out the propensity of a person for making money by means fair or foul. I may sound harsh and it may even be illegal, but how about brain mapping under narcoanalysis test to find out the “mind” of the candidate? This day may not be far - off, if corruption continues unabated at this level.

Indira Gandhi was indeed right when she acknowledged corruption as a “Universal Phenomenon”, almost justifying it. No wonder she was also in a way responsible for the present run of corrupt officers in all our government departments and Constitutional institutions. We had always thought at least our Army and Judiciary are well insulated from corruption. Newspapers rarely carried any item relating to corruption in the Army and Judiciary. But today we have Army scams and Judicial corruption almost daily being written in newspapers and shown on TV. Lack of trust in the leadership in all areas of governance is worrying every citizen today. The situation indeed is grim. If a citizen cannot trust a Police Officer, Army General, Chief Justice of the higher court, where shall he go for his security and justice?

Are we as a country lost in the limbo of a democratic anarchy?

Tailpiece:
Lokayukta SP arrests Kolar SP on corruption charges. A wag asks: Is it a case of “set a thief to catch a thief?!”

By K. B. Ganapathy
Courtesy: Star of Mysore