The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave a clarion call to the public to rebel against corruption, no matter how big the odds are. It said that is the only way to slash the tentacles of a vice that has spread across all arms of the State. The comments came during the court’s verdict upholding the conviction of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Neera Yadav and an IAS officer Rajiv Kumar in the 1993-’95 Noida land allotment scam.
“Unless people rise against bribery and corruption, society can never be rid of this disease. The people can collectively put off this evil by resisting corruption by any person, howsoever high he or she may be,” a Bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and R. Banumathi observed in a judgment pronounced on Wednesday.
The court said the lack of awareness and the “supine attitude” has only encouraged the corrupt. The public would reap the benefits of liberalisation and government welfare programmes only if there are effective and clean leaders at the helm. The court found that unbridled consumerism and fall in moral values have acted as fodder for corruption to grow deep roots within the bureaucracy and leadership.
The court had found Ms. Yadav guilty of nepotism, of abusing her position as a public servant to favour her kith and kin. However, the apex court reduced the three-year jail terms awarded to them in two separate cases to two years.
The court rejected the plea of Ms. Yadav to undergo the sentence concurrently and held that she would have to serve the jail term in two separate cases consecutively. Mr. Kumar, a 1983-batch IAS officer and then NOIDA Deputy CEO, was tried only in one case, along with Ms. Yadav.
