In the past fortnight alone, appointment of a Supreme Court judge and a deputy chief of the Army had to be put off owing to their involvement in frauds and land grab. This might have provoked public ire in any democracy. But our own government and intelligentsia took it as a routine occurrence. Even a casual look at the published cases of fraudulence should frighten the civil society. Look at the kind of dignitaries involved in cases of actionable charges: honourable judges of higher judiciary, union cabinet ministers, 'regulators' on whom the marketised economy relies for justice and fair play, Governors, constitutionally appointed commissioners, high ranking military brass, civil servants and income tax commissioners.

But then who cares? Fraudulence and corruption are so common that the civil society has become insensitive. Civil activists have ceased to respond because of the political trickery and the virtual impossibility of getting the guilty punished. The only useful tool to fight corruption and trickery at higher levels of authority is the right to information. When so many cases happen, media get 'bored'. Hence the authorities take it easy. Then we have the curious phenomenon of self-insulation. The main ruling party takes the position that it can insulate its own leaders, not allies. CBI, once reputed for its impartiality and competence, seems to be losing public trust due to its repeated misuse by the political masters.

All such factors have led to the fence itself eating up the crop which they are supposed to protect. Clearly, the system is under challenge. Ironically, evidence suggests that the process of degeneration has been faster under the present dispensation. In the absence of firm action, the offenders turn brazen. Things were not so bad even under a weak Deve Gowda or Gujral. An income tax commissioner with a southern background who was under the CBI scanner, got a reprieve courtesy DMK's arm-twisting. This emboldens others take to bigger offence. Each of the two dozen worse cases we have here, tell the story of poor governance.

In the past few months, nearly a dozen members of higher judiciary, including a former chief justice of India, have been accused of corruption and financial impropriety. As many as 37 judges, including a sitting Supreme Court judge, are involved in a multi-crore Provident Fund scam which is being investigated by the CBI. Things took an ugly turn after the mysterious death in jail of the accountant Ashutosh Asthana, who had filed an affidavit endorsing the allegations of money fraud. There is no final word yet on the action against a very senior Kolkata judge for his involvement in misappropriation. Even Somnath Chatterjee has found it necessary to comment on the murky affair.

Delivery of a bribe packet at the residence of a wrong high court judge in Chandigarh had blown into a bigger racket with the alleged nexus of property dealers and judges hearing the case. The case is still under investigation. We don't know what finally happened to the case of another Delhi-based judge involved in fraud and sex scandals. But for the bold campaign by the local farmers and a committed group of jurists, Justice Dinakaran of Karnataka high court might have been promoted as an Honourable judge of the Supreme Court. The collector has now reported to the apex court evidence of his huge land grabbing.

Defence ministry has just put on hold the appointment of Lt. Gen. P.K. Rath as army's deputy chief following his alleged role in forgery and misrepresentation of facts in army records to grab a huge stretch of land near 33 Corps HQ in Sukna. The probe also involves military secretary Lt. Gen Avadhesh Prakash. Retired general S.F. Rodrigues is in the eye of storm over the alleged irregularities in the allotment of mega projects in Chandigarh union territory where he has been the administrator. The degeneration is such that last week the Air Force headquarters sent an order saying that no serving officer should indulge in 'trade and business activities.'

None other than union minister Pawan Bansal has taken up cudgels on this scandal. Another governor escaped probe by a transfer to a different state when allegations of misuse of Raj Bhavan for undesirable activities came up. No one dares to touch former governor and schedule castes commissioner Buta Singh despite ample evidence of alleged misuse of his position to further his son's money making enterprises. Defrauding in income tax department is legion. Just this week, CBI filed a charge sheet against income tax commissioner Ajay Kumar Singh for misusing his position and amassing wealth.

Regulators, a post-reform transplant from the west, are supposed to be watchdog of free market operations. Their very integrity is now in doubt. Oil regulator V.K. Sibal is the latest one to have misused the position to favour private operators. But for the Ambani war, the truth might never have come to light. CBI has found evidence of his amassing wealth. Now he himself has bowed out. Petroleum minister Murli Deora is has been striving hard to save his skin in the Ambani controversy.

By far, the immediate moral challenge to the PM is going to be the Spectrum2 allotment scandal. As of now, this is the biggest scam that haunts the UPA. Licences were issued without auction as suggested by TRAI; government lost heavily as the rates for licence were fixed at seven-year old level; this was established by the huge premium the licensees earned by re-selling it to third parties. CBI raids claim to have found much evidence in such allegations against the minister A. Raja. All this shows the signs of a first rate scandal. Instead of tactfully handling the crisis, PM seems to have complicated the issue by his Baluchistan-type response while in Thailand.

This can give the impression that the UPA government is simply buckling under Karunanidhi's protests against the CBI raids. The PM's defence that the opposition allegations against Raja are 'incorrect,' has made his position more vulnerable. In fact, Raja himself dragged PM by slyly circulating a letter purportedly defending his position. In the early days of UPA1, PM felt uneasy when he had come under party pressure to back Shoren, Lalu and the then governor Buta Singh. Now the party feels embarrassed at the PM's position on the Spectrum2 scandal.(IPA Service)