Administrative and Judicial Reforms

In a democracy the executive is normally understood to comprise only the political leaders who are in charge of administration. In India however, the bureaucracy, in practice, is also a part of the executive. Though plans and projects are formulated by the politicians their implementation is the exclusive domain of the bureaucrat. The present bureaucratic system was designed by the British a very long time ago with the limited purpose of maintaining the Raj. After Independence, however, India entered an era of development which these bureaucrats have proved incapable of handling. Hence, the necessity of wholesale reforms in both wings of administration i.e. the IAS and the IPS.

Positions in both the services are filled through the All India Competition. No doubt very sharp brains are attracted and selected but it is only intelligence, memory and the capacity for hard desk work that can be tested through such examinations. Many subjective and objective qualities cannot be gauged through such a process. Such qualities can only be developed through long experience and only tested in the field. Moreover, there is no periodical qualitative assessment of performance. Once entry is made one can aspire to reach the top just on the basis of seniority.

Reforms at both levels are therefore a must. Without such reforms all schemes and projects will continue meeting the same fate and the monster of corruption and inefficiency will continue to grow and haunt us.

Therefore Proutists will make the following reforms:

Instead of multiple levels of recruiting for positions in either government administration or the police force there will be only two levels of recruiting: one at the lowest level and the other at officers’ level. From the ADM stage in government administration and from the Dy SP level in the police force, recruiting for higher positions will be from the entire field of eligible candidates: from the police side – personnel from police and para-military services; from the administration side – personnel from all types of civil services in both state and central administrations as well as in the private sector.

The higher services will be called the Higher Police Service (HPS) and the Higher Administrative Service (HAS) respectively. Members of these services will be entrusted with the jobs of SP and DM in the districts and equivalent positions in other areas. Every promotion to a higher position will be made by a specified Higher Services Commission in the case of government administrators and by a Higher Police Commission in the case of police officers. These Commissions will be permanently constituted for these and other allied matters.

The candidates for these higher services will be scanned for integrity, dedication, motivation, efficiency and ability to weed out corrupt and inefficient employees/officers at lower levels. There will be little or no written examinations. The candidates will be judged on the basis of their performance and integrity to date in their parent services or at their places of posting.

A Central Higher Services Commission will be established who will exercise control and supervision upon the Higher Administration Service and be responsible for all disciplinary actions and promotions as well as transfers and postings outside the state of origin. This Commission will also insulate the services from the vagaries of changes of government at the state level or arbitrary transfers and suspensions by moody CMs.

Similarly, a Higher Police Commission will be established for the Higher Police Service that will work and exercise authority in a similar manner.

Proutists believe that unless such radical steps are taken with full zeal inefficiency and its concomitant hydra-headed corruption will not abate despite the efforts of civil society, Anna Hazarreji, Swami Ramdevji or others. The Lok Pal Bill also will not be able to do much in the present dispensation.

Autonomous CBI

Since the CBI, the highest investigating agency in criminal matters in the country, works under the Central Home Ministry it is bound to please its masters. The record shows that many cases of national importance involving powerful persons were watered and no effective action was taken against them. This cannot be allowed to continue and the CBI will have to be made free from all encumbrances and organized on the pattern of the FBI as a totally independent and autonomous agency.

Law and order is the States’ jurisdiction under the Constitution. Many die-hard criminals, economic offenders, tax evaders, cheats, frauds and perpetrators of violence (individual as well as collective) get protection in their respective states. At times even riots or riot-like situations take place while the Center remains a silent spectator. Thus constitutional assurances concerning safety and security remain as mere decorations without actual value.

To ameliorate this painful situation Proutists will bring the responsibility for Law & Order under the items included in the Concurrent List.

Judicial System

The state of the judicial system in our country is appalling. There are over 3 crore cases pending at different levels. It takes decades to finalize civil matters. In criminal matters too sometimes decisions are prolonged for very long periods. Litigants and witnesses are compelled to attend court just to hear “adjourned” at the end of the day. This is also a big source of corruption amongst court officials. Avoidable crowding in court premises and huge losses of man-days result from these delays. Since the courts are not answerable to any authority except Higher Judiciary (specifically for district level courts), there is a total sense of helplessness. Counsels extract their pound of flesh from litigants and the whole system takes a heavy toll on the capacity to impart real, quick and affordable justice. Prout stands for free justice for the needy.

On top of this witnesses are either bought or threatened by the powerful and rich. In many cases they are simply eliminated. With no credible evidence available criminals are declared innocent even in heinous crimes. Finally there is no law to protect witnesses. The end result is a great miscarriage of justice.

Realizing such a sorry state of affairs in the justice system, the most important pillar of democracy, Prout declares:

To make justice free for all a large pool of lawyers will be attached to every district. They will offer free professional service to anyone who approaches them and will be paid from the government treasury according to their effort and time spent. Such lawyers will be debarred from private practice.

For lawyers outside this pool remuneration will be regulated according to the severity of the case and time spent.

To ensure speedy disposal of cases hearing in all cases, irrespective of their value or importance, whether civil or criminal, will be made on a day to day basis. No adjournments will be allowed once the case begins regular hearing except in exceptional circumstances. Criminal cases must be decided within three months and civil cases within six months from the date of the first hearing.

A ‘Director of Prosecution’, or ‘Director of Civil cases’ at the district level, will be appointed who will ensure the attendance of witnesses and keep a close watch on the daily proceedings of each case.

Provision will be made that a magistrate attached to a police station will visit the crime scene and record primary evidence on the spot. This evidence will be admissible in court safeguarding against the possibility of a witness turning hostile at a later date.

Arrangements will be made to ensure the protection and safety of witnesses or even the hiding of their identities whenever necessary.

The entire justice system will be independent and work under the watch and control of a National Judicial Commission which will be appointed for this and other purposes assigned to it.

An All India Judicial Service will be appointed and recruited in the same manner as the Civil Services. This service will replace the various means of appointment in use today for filling judiciary positions up to district level.