Political Patronage

5.1 Political Patronage

The biggest cause of corruption in today’s India is undoubtedly the political
leadership at the helm of affairs in the country. From this fountainhead of
corruption flow various streams of corrupt practices which plague the political,
economic and social activities in the country. The post-independence political
leadership has risen from the grassroots level in the form of regional, caste,
linguistic and other protest movements. They have transformed the nature of
politics and administration. Amoral politics, self-aggrandisement, disregard of the
constitutional norms in the pursuit of power, political survival at any cost are their
rules of the game. They interfere with the administration of justice and have bent
bureaucracy to do their bidding.
The A.D. Gorwala Report was one of the earliest official documents that
laid bare the problem of corruption in India. For Gorwala, character building was
the basis of state building and the decline in character in India had two
immediate causes in the post-1947 period. The first was the impact of the War.
World War II was an expression of violence and also of greed. Though many
people shared in the war effort, for most it was not their war. The war was boom
time, and people benefited legally and illegally from it. Gorwala added to that the
failure of the national movement to leave behind a spiritual residue among the
people (Vishwanathan and Sethi 1997).
The Gorwala Report was particularly harsh on the role of the political
leadership in setting examples before the public. “Enquiries into allegations have

been made by senior all-India leaders of the principle party…. Often they have
remained secret. Nor action was taken. It seems fairly clear that if the public is to
have confidence that moral standards do prevail in high places, arrangements
must be made that no one, however highly placed, is immune from enquiry if
allegations against him are made by responsible parties and if a prima facie case
exists. There should be no hushing-up or appearance of hushing-up for personal
or political reasons.” (India, 1951).
For the Railway Corruption Enquiry Committee, chaired by J.B. Kriplani,
corruption was a failure of citizen ship. Whether it was the bribe, ticket less travel
or theft, all these were acts which undermined the state. The report ruthlessly
listed the categories of people who refused to pay and their attitude towards it.
Politicians and senior bureaucrats were among those who claimed exemption
from paying for travel on account of their status. The report therefore went on to
insist that “apart from administrative reforms, and punitive measures, there is a
great need for higher officials to play the leaders in a reform movement.” (India,
1955).
The strange part of the story of the early years of corruption in India is that
the protection that Jawaharlal Nehru extended to his corrupt colleagues did not
benefit him any way. Wealth could not tempt him in any form, and he had a
typical aristocrats disdain for money. However, by condoning high-visibility cases
of corruption and shielding the guilty, Nehru legitimized graft in high places, and

this undermined the rule of law and the moral basis of the polity (Noorani 1973).
After Independence their was a pressing need to strengthen the needs of the
state, establish high norms of political morality, and make no exceptions in the
punishing the culprit. There are a few failings for which India has paid so heavy a
price as his tolerance of corruption among his colleagues and party m en. (Gill,
1998).
The role of political leadership in aiding and abetting spread of corruption
in India was most clearly brought out by the Shah Commission of Enquiry
constituted to look into the excesses committed during the period of Emergency
(!975-77). Justice Shah reserved his most damning observations for the role that
Sanjay Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, played subverting rule of law in the country.
Shah noted: “ The manner in which Shri Sanjay Gandhi functioned in the public
affairs of Delhi in particular is the single greatest act of excess committed during
the period of Emergency for which there is no parallel nor any justification for
such assumption of authority or power in the history of independent India. While
the other acts and excesses may have been in the nature of acts committed by
functionaries have some shadow of authority acting in excess of their powers.
Here was a case of an individual wielding unlimited powers in a dictatorial
powers without even the slightest right to it. If this country is to be rendered safe
for future generations the people owe it to themselves to ensure that an
irresponsible and unconstitutional centre of power like the one which revolved

around Shri Sanjay Gandhi during the Emergency is not allowed to ever come up
again in any form or shape or under any guise.” (India, 1978).
The nexus between corrupt politicians and corrupt bureaucrats has been
clearly proved in recent years by scams like the Animal Husbandry (fodder) scam
in Bihar (in which the former Chief Minister, some of his ministers, legislators of
the ruling and opposition parties and several senior bureaucrats were charge
sheeted by the C.B.I.), Coal scam in Tamil Nadu (involving the then C.M. Ms.
Jayalalitha), Urea scam (involving the son and a relative of the former Prime
Minister Narasimha Rao), Telecom scam (involving the Union Telecom minister
Sukh ram) etc. Since the corruption flows down from the top it is not easy to stop
it or limit it, and it has a devastating effect on the administration and the society in
general.