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FROM
THE EDITOR IN CHIEF
There is a stink
of corruption in the corridors of power these days. First, the head of
the ruling party is caught taking cash and then, last week, B.P. Verma,
the chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), is arrested
for corruption. Outside government circles, the importance of Verma's
arrest is perhaps lost on many. The chairman of CBEC heads a mammoth staff
of 80,000 and has enormous powers. The board was responsible for gathering
almost half the Central government revenues of Rs 1,20,000 crore, enough
to feed the budgets of major states like Maharashtra and Gujarat, with
plenty to spare. Verma could appoint people, transfer them and direct
his officers to interpret various product categories to manipulate the
rate of customs and excise dues. For example, on his bidding, a containerload
of automobile engines could be reclassified as used diesel generators-leading
to a reduction in duty by an amazing six times from the present rate of
180 per cent. With appropriate appointments, a person in Verma's position
could easily subvert the system.
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The whole affair is sordid. Verma apparently
lorded over an organised crime network that involved money, sex and drugs.
He is accused of allowing the smuggling of containerloads of consumer
products from Uzbekistan in exchange for a cut. In a second string network,
Uzbek women posing as tourists in the seedy hotels of Paharganj in Delhi
used the money they earned from illegal trade and prostitution to buy
spurious drugs and smuggle it back to Uzbekistan with the connivance of
customs officials, who were sometimes paid with sexual favours as well.
"It's like a B-grade crime thriller, only here it's a true story,"
says Principal Correspondent Sayantan Chakravarty, who along with Senior
Editor Sumit Mitra and Associate Editor Harinder Baweja reported the cover
stories that detail the life and crimes of Verma and the Uzbek connection.
How did such a man reach so high? And how pervasive was the corruption?
What example did he set for officers under his direction?
The good news is that corruption is again the
talk of the day and that top echelons have been caught in the net, rather
than the usual underlings. For too long, corruption has been an accepted
practice in public life. Hopefully, such exposes will make a dent in the
rotten system.
(Aroon
Purie)
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