DNA Edit: Mulayam’s acquittal - Politicians can get away with amassing wealth

There are two sets of rules that govern the laws of corruption. One is for the politician, who can get away with amassing wealth; the other is for the common man, who can be convicted for the smallest offence. Take the case of Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) — in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on Tuesday — gave clean chits in a disproportionate assets case to former Uttar Pradesh chief ministers Mulayam Singh and son Akhilesh Yadav along with their extended family including Mulayam’s younger son Pratik, his daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav, who is also an MP.

After 13 years of investigation, the CBI found no ‘prima facie’ evidence of misconduct! While it is generally believed that politicians around the world are crooks, Indian politicians who have been charged with corruption are three times as likely to win parliamentary elections as those who have not.

Yet, the truth is that apart from a handful of politicians like Lalu Yadav, who has been sent behind bars, most others have got away in the absence of crucial evidence, which can get diluted if a case persists for too long. After his arrest by the CBI in April 2011 in the Commonwealth Games scam, Suresh Kalmadi, who was charged with cheating, conspiracy and corruption in awarding contracts, walked out of the Tihar jail in early 2012 after spending just nine months behind bars.

In the notorious 2G scam, A Raja, Kanimozhi and 15 others accused were acquitted by a special CBI court in December 2017 because of lack of evidence. Rajya Sabha MP and former SP leader, Amar Singh was sent to 13-day judicial custody on September 6, 2011, in the cash-for-votes scam.

Soon enough, he got interim bail and has been out since. But, the most classic of them all is the J Jayalalithaa case. She returned to office as Tamil Nadu chief minister in May 2015, after she was found not guilty of amassing wealth that could not be accounted for during her first term as chief minister in the early 1990s.

The nearly two-decade-old case against her was transferred from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka in 2003 to ensure the trial would not be impacted. The Karnataka High Court then found no evidence that Jayalalithaa had accumulated more than Rs 60 crore that could not be explained by her declared income. At the time, she famously drew Rs 1 as monthly salary!

Yet, some like former telecom minister Sukh Ram have been convicted. He was charged with corruption when the CBI in 1996 seized Rs. 3.6 crore in cash, concealed in bags and suitcases, from his official residence. He was convicted and sentenced to three years behind bars in 2002. But for every one Sukh Ram convicted, there is a BS Yeddyurappa or former BJP president Bangaru Laxman, who have got away with relatively minor sentences.

The politician-criminal nexus remains strong and the lack of conviction in corruption cases has more to do with a rotting criminal justice system. Politicians with their vast influence and economic resources can afford a clean chit whenever they want.