Supreme Court judgement on bureaucracy The highest court of the land has felt the pulse of the people and the suffocation in the administrative forces. It has ordained that the political interference in heir functioning must be stopped. The bureaucrats must also have a fixed tenure of service. The bureaucrats must not succumb to oral orders and adhere to probity, and display integrity in their functioning. Besides the officers of this cadre must be sensitive, responsive and adhere to laws.
It has been a common observation that uncomfortable, unpliable officers are perceived as a threat by the politicians, who feel insulted and disrespected when officers turn down their unreasonable and often illegal demands. Oral orders are deniable in case of legal scrutiny and blame can be solely attributed to the officers of having acted on with malafides. Frequent transfers, even in the middle of the night is a discrete measure of showing the powers of the Legislature bosses thereby intimidating, terrorising, pressurising, victimising and shattering their will, as well as blotting their career prospects, The agony is also shared by the immediate family and shock waves touch the whole family .Those who refuse the will of the majesty have to pay a heavy price .The outstanding courage of Ashok Kemka, Kiran Bedi, Durga Nagpal, P.C Parak has come in for sympathy as well as accolades from the public and the media far from accepting the will of the politicians intending to make an example and silence the others who will dare. ,Many others have valiantly refused the temptation, but have not received public focus , lime light and victimised by the authorities The steel frame of IAS, IPS, IFS etc is reduced to mere straw frame .There are service and conduct rules that are breached with impunity. The Associations of cadres rarely show their determination to seek justice. The Legislation in Maharashtra in 2006 offering a fixed tenure of 3 years and transfers only in May / April are mere paper tigers Will the orders of S.C be implemented or will the parties jointly bring about amendments to circumvent and deny the orders. They have already sounded alarming bells of caution that the Legislature with the C,M have the right to transfer in so called undefined exigencies and that no one will be able to take away this privilege. Hence they will not relinquish this power of transfers, sometimes sought for pecuniary gains also. The politicians are citing isolated cases and dangers from ideologies, individuals as well as organisations and need to counteract such divisive forces. The misuse and abuse is what is being questioned and not exceptions .The blame is shifted on bureaucrats for routine transfers, but actually motivated , inspired by politicians taking shelter under oral orders .The RTI act has given right to even provide file notifications, but only in written orders it will be effective To day the media, RTI Act, Court intervention, and vigilant public opinion can ensure that such acts will not be tolerated and the S.C judgement will have to be operational sooner than later Implementation with unrelenting politicians can always be a hindrance, as it is with all sensible, meaningful laws in existence. Thus the fixed tenure, written orders, less of political interference under Art 32 will usher good functional stability and responsible conduct The land mark judgement will unshackle the bureaucracy, ushering in administrative reforms, freeing them the worries and torments of frequent transfers by the political class The dawn of elections and fears of backlash may momentarily silence the politicians from taking a hasty decision and retreat tactically. Nelson Lopes Chinchinim
