Durga Shakti Nagpal

Durga SDM Greater Noida has been suspended. Another action by the political masters, which is both ham-handed and high-handed.

The politicians sometimes naively believe, since they derive power from the people, and in democracy, that power is supreme, that gives them the legitimacy to molest and maul other institutions, which at least in their reckoning, are lower in the pecking orders of democratic polity.

But, this premise is presumptuous in that, it disregards the fact, that the babu too derives power from the constitution, which has been given to the country by the people. To add to the power from the people, the constitution has an additional legitimacy of the antiquity. If the Americans can swear to a constitution of 1787, and the English by the 1300s Magna Carta, then we can certainly find relevance in a document that was thoughtfully conceived just 60 yrs ago.

Today, I read an article by Srivatsa Krishna, an civil servant from the South, lamenting the suspension of young member of his service. His ire was all about an honest IAS officer – Durga Nagpal being victimized, and not an honest and dutiful person being victimized. He, for once did not curse the IAS officer – UP State Chief Secretary who would have signed the suspension order. How can a CS – the top bureaucrat of the State be bullied into signing an order that was wrongful? Why did he lack the spine to protect a junior and dutiful member of his team?  Did he curry favors or bribe his way to this position?

Srivatsa’s article also highlighted the appalling conditions in which the IAS sometimes works, and like all bureaucrats, he likened it to the much better conditions of work of the “hallowed” army. Again, I see a dichotomy of sorts in the use of the word “hallowed”. It is presumed a civil servant will be a nationalist. And it is known, a nationalist will always be supportive of his country's armed forces. Why does the Indian bureaucracy then always betray this sentiment and speak of the army pejoratively? This is a subject on which I have blogged in the past as well, and it continues to intrigue me.