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Ajay Dua, IAS (Maharashtra batch 1971) was told publicly by the controversial Maharashtra Chief Minister AR Antulay that he would be suspended within a month as Assistant Collector, Raigad District if a certain road was not completed within a month. Road building was not in Dua’s control, the diktat was impracticable and Antulay was only posturing before a public rally to win some brownie points on accountability. But this incident shows the degree of influence that politicians exerted on the bureaucracy, and continue to do so, till date.
Dua, who retired as commerce secretary, was transferred thrice within the first two years of his career for “not bending”, and 14 times by the time he completed service. Not too bad when you consider Khemka’s 41 transfers in 21 years, but not something an honest bureaucrat would want to go through.
It is in order to avoid such interference and harassment by the political class, that an apex court bench headed by Justice KS Radhakrishnan, suggested sweeping reforms on October 31 to unshackle bureaucracy from the clutches of politicians – an apt day too, given that it was the birthday of the architect of India’s Civil Services – Sardar Patel.
The court asked the Parliament to enact a new law to regulate postings, transfers and disciplinary action against bureaucrats within three months. The major directives included:
1. Fixed minimum tenure of three years to a civil servant
2. Institution of an independent Civil Services Board to deal with the transfers and promotion of bureaucrats
3. Maintenance of written orders by bureaucrats, barred from acting on verbal orders
The court ruling will have far-reaching implications on improving governance, ensuring security of tenure of officers and stopping unchecked transfers that are used as instruments of reward and punishment say experts. Maintenance of written orders will also ensure all actions are recorded and can be obtained by citizens wishing to probe matters, under RTI.
“After this SC order today directing fixed tenures and written orders, onus is as much on bureaucrats to be firm and refuse to part of any nexus,” tweeted Kiran Bedi, former cop and social activist, lauding the court’s move.
But the bigger question is whether this order will be implemented at all, given the lack of political will to change the status quo and the government’s criticism of the order. It has also brought to fore yet again, the question of whether the court is overstepping its mandate and entering the policymaking domain.
“For effective administration, the discretion should be with the political authority. Any infringement of this authority will not be good for the country,” Congress spokesperson PC Chacko told the Mint newspaper.
Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the Centre for Policy Research was in agreement with the government’s views and tweeted saying, “the Supreme Court is continuing its constitutional usurpation; and many orders are practically unworkable.”
Moreover, if the depressing fate of the Supreme Court’s order on police reforms is any precedent or sign of how politically unpalatable reforms can be held up for years on end, these suggestions are unlikely to see the light of day any time soon.
Seven years after the court verdict, police reforms still remain on paper, with few states having moved.
"In September 2006, the Supreme Court had framed similar guidelines for the police. The government is yet to act," Joginder Singh, former CBI director and a petitioner in the case told PTI.
It would indeed be a sad demise, if the apex court’s suggestions gather dust in some central government vault for years without even so much as a proper debate. For a government that was raring to go with an ordinance effectively protecting convicted politicians, and now making a desperate bid to get the contentious communal violence bill passed ahead of elections, to promptly dismiss what many civil society activists and former bureaucrats are calling landmark reforms, further undermines its credibility.
Meanwhile, the BJP, desperately trying to build political capital by clinging to Sardar Patel’s legacy, should perhaps shift its energies on pushing through this reformist legislation. That, and not a grandiose Rs 2,000 crore statue, would perhaps prove its reverence to Patel’s ideals.
