Babus run scared

MUMBAI: Government officials from junior clerks to senior officers- not only those working at Mantrayala but also other state agencies-have suddenly become wary of handling files, let alone knocking on the chief minister's door for a plum post.
The CBI's decision to register a criminal case against those accused in the multi-crore Adarsh Housing Society scam has come as a shock for babus, IFS officials and even the top police brass.They were under the impression that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would never actually file an FIR, said an official. Everyone's running scared.
Many bureaucrats have started the process of securing anticipatory bail. "The CBI has registered a criminal case before the special court. As all the offences are cognizable and non-bailable, we feel that we should go in for an anticipatory bail. We are consulting our lawyers," said one bureaucrat.
A member of the Adarsh society said, "We thought it would end with the suspension of information commissioner Ramanand Tiwari. The CBI's decision to initiate criminal proceedings has come as a shock. We thought it was beyond the CBI's jurisdiction to probe the land deal because the plot is owned by the government."
The implications of the FIR are many, but the one that's finally hitting home is the fact that nobody can escape the law. Babus were sitting tight hoping that the scam would be forgotten with former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan's unceremonious exit from the political arena. "After Chavan was sacked, we thought it would be a closed chapter. But now all of us seem to be in deep trouble. We will have to be ready for a long-drawn legal battle,'' said the Adarsh society member.
There are also talks among the accused of pooling their resources and facing the legal battle as a team. "We don't know the exact details of the FIR. We will meet once we get a copy and then decide the course of action," he said.
Most of the bureaucrats fear that once the FIR is made public, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan will not hesitate to give them the boot. "We feel that Chavan will send all the babus, whose names figure in the FIR, on long leave till the charge sheet is filed," the bureaucrat added.
It's a double dose of justice for the accused: Not only has the CBI named them in the FIR, but they will also receive a summon from the commission of inquiry headed by Justice J A Patil in a week or two. "The commission has been asked to investigate the role of all the beneficiaries and those who directly or indirectly dealt with the file from 2001 to 2010," he said.
A senior bureaucrat, who is also a member of Adarsh, told TOI that the promoters of the society had given the impression that because all clearances were given by high-ranking babus and senior IPS officials, nothing could go wrong. The fact that the family members of the former chief minister were members of the society was touted as a bonus. "We have been cheated by the promoters. We have lost our life savings," said the bureaucrat.