Pawan Bansal, former Union Railway Minister, is a gonner. It
doesn’t matter what the CBI finds. It doesn’t matter if the courts acquit him
(which in any case will take several years). As far as the media, and in turn
the people of the country, are concerned, Pawan Bansal is guilty. Or rather,
“must be” guilty. This habit of deciding before hearing a person out, often
captured under the colorful phrase “connecting the dots”, ensures that one
charged of corruption never gets rid of the smear. Pawan Bansal’s political
career may be returned back to him, but his spotless reputation never will be.
Let’s see what the CBI’s case against him – and media’s
voluble amplification of – is all about. Bansal’s nephew apparently “fixed”
Railway Board appointments using his uncle’s clout. Bansal claims the nephew
was acting on his own. The “connecting the dots” theory makes us all ask “how
could he have fixed appointments without his uncle’s connivance?”. But anyone
who knows anyone in Delhi knows that the city is full of touts who claim to
know some or the other politician, minister, bureaucrat….any other type of
power wielder. The nephew may well be one of them. There has been money traced
back to the nephew, and he surely looks guilty. But what about his uncle?
Here are some facts that have emerged so far:
1) There
is zero money trail leading up to Bansal. It is of course possible that
the money is collected by the nephew, on behalf of Bansal, and the two may have
some sort of a “verbal” (non-written) understanding. Even if this is true, there
should eventually be some money
transfer between the two establishing Bansal’s guilt. No such trail has been
found.
2) There
is not a single phone recording with Bansal’s voice, even though several
phone calls were made from his home. All references to Bansal have been made by
the nephew, who obviously visited his uncle’s place often. It is of course
possible that the nephew’s usage of Bansal’s name shows they are in it
together; it is equally possible that the nephew is just a bragger. There are
so many of them in Delhi, like I said earlier.
3) The
“beneficiary” of the alleged fixing, Mahesh Kumar, who was made Member
(Staff) of the Railway Board, was indeed the most deserving candidate for
the posting. There don’t appear to be any “waivers” made for him. No one
was bypassed; no one shafted. The allegation really is not so much about this
particular role, as it is about some vague commitment about a future posting as
Member (Electrical) where apparently the moolah lies. I call it vague, because
there is no such verifiable deal. Besides, the event didn’t even take place. If
the CBI was so sure about Bansal’s involvement, it should have waited till
Mahesh Kumar became the Member (Electrical) to prove its case. Nothing at
present, except the brag of the nephew, shows that Mahesh Kumar’s appointment
was fixed.
4) There
are allegations that Bansal’s family businesses reported high business growth
during the last so many years when Bansal’s political career rose. But an
explanation has been provided for the growth. Whether we believe that or
not, we cannot deny that there was a professional management in place which did
nothing but run the business 24x7. In contrast, consider the case of Arun
Jaitley’s wealth, as reported in media today. It rose from Rs 24 crores (Nov 2011)
to Rs 120 crores (yesterday) in 1 year and 7 months. So he added Rs 96 crores
in 19 months. Wow. And if you thought it was because of appreciation of
property, hold on. His “immovable assets” have increased from Rs 8.25 crores to
Rs 34.7 crores; so lets grant him that much concession, even though prices haven’t
shot up that much. But more importantly, all other assets have risen
dramatically, from Rs 15.75 crores to Rs 85.3 crores. And remember, technically
Jaitley has stopped earning since he doesn’t practice any longer. His
investments also add up to small amounts, so that couldn’t be the source of his
wealth. What’s driven this growth then? Yet, media hasn’t front paged this
information. Why? If Jaitley, a non-earner for several years, can see his wealth
rise so rapidly, and not be questioned for it, why is such a big deal being
made about Bansal’s family’s wealth rising? If this is not a “witch hunt”, what
is it?
But what’s the point of all these facts? The media is
unforgiving, given its “connecting the dots” attitude. The public has already
made up its mind with a “must have done it” attitude. The opposition is bound
to say “the CBI went light on Bansal”, even though if that were true, they
should never have mounted these charges in the first place. Net net, Bansal’s
goose has already been cooked, irrespective of what the CBI finally finds, or
what the courts finally say. No evidence, no verdict, no pronouncement can now
salvage his reputation. Collectively, through gross irresponsibility, and because
of the extreme habit of sensationalism, the media has smeared a man’s
reputation. If this same incident had happened in the US or UK, the media there
would have cautioned readers that these were mere charges. And if the charges
were eventually cleared, media would have given adequate coverage to that, as
part of its responsibility. The public there is also far more mature. It would
have given a clean chit to the accused.
The real truth is that if we believe in “rule of
law”, then our media and we ourselves have to understand what it means. We
cannot pre-judge people. We must learn to give them a clean chit if the courts
clear their name. Media must learn to report fairly, without any masala thrown
in. Media must also apologize if it slurs anyone’s reputation, even by mistake.
As far as Bansal is concerned, he is a gonner….his reputation forever has been
smeared.
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