The Hindu : New Delhi News : Need to plug illicit liquor trade

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 24, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Need to plug illicit liquor trade

A STING operation in which several policemen were caught accepting bribe on camera from those dealing in illicit liquor by a property dealer has forced the Delhi police to institute a vigilance inquiry. While six lower level personnel have so far been suspended, the entire episode warrants a deeper look into the issue.

Going by a similar exercise two years ago, it seems the system is ineffective in so far as breaking the vicious cycle of illicit liquor trade is concerned. It is also necessary to look into the factors which encourage the menace, but do not normally come to the fore.

A close look at the problem would suggest that there is an undeclared but rather firm belief that it cannot be curbed. At best, it is not a problem as long as a hooch tragedy is kept at bay. This is simply because a multitude of vested interests heavily "depend" on its success.

This became evident in April 2002 when within a few days many deaths were reported from the slum clusters and lower middle class localities of West Delhi and North-West Delhi. To begin with, the police were blamed for allowing the trade to flourish after taking bribes.

But most of the local leaders also presented faulty lists of the "victims of the hooch tragedy". They were accused by local residents of trying to convince people to show the death of their kith and kin as "liquor deaths", even if that was not the case. The lure: a hefty compensation. Those getting the compensation were likely to support them in future.

The members of the Sansi community largely indulge in the trade and the police say they would take to heinous crimes if stopped from doing so. These people then become the politicians' favourite. It is an open secret that nursing constituents, particularly during elections, means free flow of cheap liquor in lower class localities. Police, politicians and the Sansis apart, there are a large number of behind-the-scene beneficiaries.

The question now is how to fix responsibility on those found erring. In 2002, the inquiry led to many police personnel being transferred and some others getting suspended. But, as evident now, the exercise merely skimmed the surface and the vicious cycle was never really broken.

In the present case, another dimension has been added. Senior police officers of an elite Unit of the Delhi police have been accused of trying to destroy the evidence. A question could well be asked here: Whose offence is more serious? Those who accepted the bribes or those trying to hide them!

The police maintained that the person involved in the sting has criminal antecedents and has shot the video to apparently settle scores with the police. It will still be a lame excuse. His misdeeds cannot be a licence for the police to indulge in illegal activities.

However, before arriving at a conclusion and flogging the police for their deeds -- real or imaginary -- it must be said that the corruption in police has high visibility. The ones behind the scenes are probably benefiting more than anybody else involved in the menace and yet go scot-free. After all, patronage to criminals from various quarters, which affect the effectiveness of the police, is not an unheard of phenomenon.

Therefore, if the police are expected to break the vicious cycle, they need to be insulated from extraneous pressures. At the same time, there is a clear case for the agency being put to scrutiny by an independent agency.

But, the question is this: Will the policy makers take the episode as a problem requiring urgent solution through reforms? Or will they see it as yet another irritant which happened to catch the media's attention.

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