The Indian Express and Pirzada

BY Seetha| IN Opinion | 13/02/2004

Letter to the Hoot: Why is the paper finding excuses for an officer held for corruption?

For a paper crusading against corruption, the display, heading and tone of the story in the Indian Express of February 13, about the arrest of an IAS officer in Punjab, G S Pirzada, on grounds of corruption, was surprising. "Man who drew Punjab IT roadmap gets his reward: jail" was the main heading, with one strapline saying "IAS officer who brought Infosys to the state held, thrown into jail" and the other saying "industry shocked; He`s good but with a sticky finger, admits CM".

The whole tone of the story, which was accompanied by a box with industry representatives singing his praises, was that this was a dynamic officer who was being victimised. While in most reports on corruption, the focus would be on the wrongdoing - in this case alleged misuse of powers by Pirzada as managing director of the Punjab State Electronics Development Corporation and amassing wealth - the story starts with Pirzada`s arrest and the shock in the information technology sector. The second is all about his "crusading zeal, cutting red tape". It is only in the third and fourth para that the charges against him are mentioned. And it is immediately followed by this sentence: "Numerous IAS officers in the state are facing Vigilance Bureau inquiries, most of them have either been exonerated or their inquiries lie buried in files. Why was Pirzada singled out for such sudden action." It goes on to suggest that he antagonised chief minister Amrinder Singh by being close to his party rivals.

The rest of the article is about Pirzada`s dynamism and his industry-friendly actions. Industry, the readers are told, felt confident of investing in the state because of him! He was apparently shunted out of Tamil Nadu, his parent cadre, because he took on the forest mafia. Any mention of his sticky fingers is done in a manner that suggests that the charges are a result of his antagonising political and bureaucratic circles. The story raises more questions than it answers about Pirzada. No one is denying that this country needs dynamic administrators who scythe red tape and make life easier for everyone. But should such dynamism exonerate alleged `sticky fingers`? Maybe the charges are completely baseless and are, in fact, politically motivated. But shouldn`t that be left to the courts and the Central Vigilance Commission where complaints have been filed against Pirzada? More importantly, should newspapers and industry be issuing character certificates to officials under a cloud, no matter how dynamic and industry-friendly they are?

Seetha New Delhi

Feb 13, 2004

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