View Of Politicians Police And Criminal Nexus Criminology Essay

The various crime syndicates/mafia organizations have developed significant muscle and money power and have established linkages The existing criminal justice system, which was essentially designed to deal with the individual crimes, is unable to deal with government functionaries, political leaders and others to be able to operate with impunity. The tragedy is not that the evils afflicting society and the emerging system are not known, but the indifference of the leaders across the spectrum to the damage they are doing to the political system is abysmal. Enjoyment of power is wrecking the system from within. There is a need to nip the budding criminal in early stages which will be helpful in ending nexus considerably.

INTRODUCTION

The rule of law is a hallmark of democracy. To put it simply, it means order and stability in the society. [1] Politicians need money and muscle power to maintain their positions of power and authority. Criminals thrive on wrongdoings and need some help to keep the police personnel out of their way. Police is dependent upon the politicians for promotions and smooth service in business. So there exists a mutual benefit relationship between police, politicians and criminals. Once the politician reaches a particular stature and develops a clout, he dictates terms to Police and Bureaucracy much to the delight of the criminal elements. The bonds become stronger and either finds it difficult to survive without the help of the other and the point of no return is reached. [2] 

POLITICAL POLICE AND CRIMINAL NEXUS

The police are a foundation of rule of law and play an essential role in establishing it. They maintain the law and order in the society and protect the right and freedoms of the citizens.

The rule of law presumes that police should serve the citizen and remain free from the influence of political establishment [3] . Police has varied duties from serving the people to protecting the state. The local in India, are corrupt by and large and the reality is often disputed. Most police officers associate themselves with criminals in their locality as the police are often involved in the same crimes and/or in many cases seek to claim a share of the money collected by the criminals. [4] The police provide assistance to the criminals by refusing to register a case against them. Police are considered to be criminals in uniform who work according to the wishes of the political parties in power at the expense of state funds. Most police officers associate themselves with criminals in their locality as the police are often involved in the same crimes and/or in many cases seek to claim a share of the money collected by the criminals. The police assist the criminals by either refusing to take any action against them or, if under pressure, by registering cases but failing to properly investigate them. Some policemen have not got over their old colonial mentality and are persisting in barbaric acts in a free country which claims to be run by democratic constitution and rule of law.

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The nexus between criminal gangs, police, bureaucracy and politicians has come out clearly in various parts of the country. [5] The history of police and criminal nexus is very old. Report on the nexus between the Bombay City Police and the Bombay under-world was prepared by CBI in 1986 which shows that police and criminal nexus is not new. An organized crime syndicate or mafia generally commences its activities by indulging in petty crime at the local level, mostly relating to illicit distillation/gambling/organized satta and prostitution in the larger towns. In port towns, their activities involve smuggling and sale of imported goods and progressively graduate to narcotics and drug trafficking. In the bigger cities, the main source of income relates to real estate – forcibly occupying lands/buildings, procuring such properties at cheap rates by forcing out the existing occupants/tenants etc. Even in the smaller towns and rural areas, muscle-men have become the order of the day. Hired assassins have become a part of these organizations.

The various crime syndicates organizations have developed significant muscle and money power and have established linkages with government functionaries, political leaders and others to be able to operate with impunity.

The existing criminal justice system, which was essentially designed to deal with the individual crimes, is unable to deal with the activities of the Mafia; the provisions of law in regard economic offences are weak; there are insurmountable legal difficulties in attaching/confiscation of the property acquired through Mafia activities. In certain States, like Bihar, Haryana and UP, these gangs enjoy the patronage of local level politicians, cutting across party lines and the protection of governmental functionaries. Some political leaders become the leaders of these gangs and, over the years, get themselves elected to local bodies, State Assemblies and the national Parliament. Consequently, such elements have acquired considerable political clout seriously jeopardizing the smooth functioning of the administration and the safety of life and property of the common man, causing a sense of despair and alienation among the people. The big smuggling Syndicates, having international linkages, have spread into and infected the various economic and financial activities, including Havana transactions, circulation of black money and operations of a vicious parallel economy causing serious damage to the economic fibre of the country. These syndicates have acquired substantial financial and muscle power and social respectability and have successfully corrupted the government machinery at all levels and wield enough influence to make the task of Investigating and Prosecuting agencies extremely difficult; even the members of the Judicial system have not escaped the embrace of the Mafia. Certain elements of the Mafia have shifted to narcotics, drugs and weapon smuggling and established narco-terrorism networks, specially in the States of J&K, Punjab, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The Bombay bomb blast case and the communal, riots in Surat and Ahmedabad have demonstrated how the Indian underworld has been exploited by the Pak ISI and the latter’s network in UAE to cause sabotage, subversion and communal tension in various parts of the country. The investigations into the Bombay bomb blast cases have revealed extensive linkages of the underworld in the various governmental agencies, political circles, business sector and the film world. It is evident that the muscle power of the crime Syndicates is sustained by their enormous financial power which, in turn, is, secured by the Mafia elements by committing economic offences with impunity. the various economic intelligence/investigative/enforcement agencies under Secretary (Revenue) operates are Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) it is responsible for the prevention of smuggling, In this and other tasks, it is assisted by the by the Director General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI) and the Directorate General of Anti-Evasion (DGAE). The DGRI deals with the evasion of customs duties; the DGAE with Excise duty evasion. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) The CEIB is responsible for coordinating and strengthening the intelligence gathering activities and the investigative and enforcement actions of the various agencies responsible for investigation into economic offences and the enforcement of economic laws. Its main tasks are Identification of major sources generating black money; directing and developing intelligence about such sources; planning and coordinating action and operations against such sources. Enforcement Directorate This Directorate is concerned with the enforcement of the investigation and penal provision of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act; collection of intelligence relating to foreign exchange offences; enquiries into suspected violations of the provisions of FERA, etc. Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) The NCB is responsible for the administration of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. It is responsible for coordination with different Central and State Government Departments/Ministries and the various Central and State law enforcement agencies for the implementation of the NDPS Act.

These are the main agencies to tackle the crimes related to the tax and narcotic substances but the functioning of these agencies is hampered by the pressure which is result police political and criminal nexus The linkages developed by crime Syndicates get generally confirmed when pressure is mounted on the concerned agencies not to take action against the offenders or to go slow in the cases against them. Such pressures are mounted either immediately after a raid is conducted or at the time when prosecution is about to be initiated. Pressures are also exerted whenever corrupt and undesirable officers are shifted from sensitive assignments (Preventive Customs Divisions at the Airports, sensitive Collect orates in the Central Excise etc.)

In the narcotics arena, which includes cultivation of opium, manufacture of alkaloids, prevention of narcotics, smuggling etc. the financial stakes are astronomically high. Consequently, the level of corruption is of a very high order in this area of functioning and enormous pressures are brought to bear even when subordinate officials are posted away especially when the shift of an officer adversely affects the interests of those who are making easy money. Narcotics trade has a world-wide network of smugglers who also have close links with terrorists. Terrorists indulge in narcotics trade to amass huge funds, in various foreign currencies, from which they source their procurement of weapons etc. the consequences of the this nexus between criminal and politicians is very harmful and to deal with the consequences we have to empower these agencies with the more effective power and machinery.

The tragedy is not that the evils afflicting society and the emerging system are not known, but the indifference of the leaders across the spectrum to the damage they are doing to the political system is abysmal. Enjoyment of power is wrecking the system from within. It is matter for most serious concern that an increasing number of police officers are serving jail terms or facing trials for serious offences There is an emergence of the politico-bureaucratic-criminal nexus which has assumed command in several parts of the country. It is indeed a matter for utmost concern that many functionaries, who are elements of the criminal nexus, may also be occupying sensitive positions in the security management apparatus.

According to a recent study the present Lok Sabha has the unique distinction of having as many as 125 members with criminal background. [6] There are serious charges of rape, murder, kidnapping and extortion pending against many of the honorable members. They have not been convicted yet and there is no chance for it in the near future. Cases against them have been pending since ages and can never be disposed off. Saner elements in civil society and concerned citizens are beginning to be worried at the spectre of full-fledged “criminalisation of politics and politicisation of criminals” to use the formulation of one of our Prime Ministers. [7] If the present trend of criminalization among the elected representatives continues, the doomsday of rule of law in India would soon arrive. The present day politicians have proved late Churchill right when he said that scoundrels would rule India. Rather the situation today is far worse.

The language of politics has changed over the years. Celebrations over, the politicians will now be back at the games they play in the pursuit of power and all that goes with it. [8] Politicians are busy , they cannot spare time for the people and are engrossed in the chase for power. They do not have a moment to ponder over what they have done to the Constitution. In fact, politicians of all sorts have hijacked the democratic system to run it for their own convenience and not for serving the people. If any organ of the State chooses to block their way, they try to bend it to their will by means fair and foul. [9] In the past two decades and more there has been a growing increase in complaints of corruption, particularly at the levels which hurt the common man the most. Consequently, people have lost trust in the commitment and capacity of the governments, at the Centre and in the States, to promote their welfare. [10] 

Elections involving money and muscle power have failed to produce desirable results. The communalisation and criminalisation of politics, endemic corruption and ineffectiveness of the governmental machinery have tarnished the image of governance and severely eroded its effectiveness. [11] White collar criminality is fairly prevalent in Politics. The standards of conduct are high among politicians as they are in commercial life. White-collar crimes violate trust and create disgust, which lowers social morale and produces social disorganization on a large scale. Other crimes produce relatively little effect on social institutions or social organization. [12] Some people believe that there are still innocent and honest politicians in the country, but nothing is being done by these honest people to control the pervasive corruption in the country. The politicians are busy playing blame games. There is hesitation to call a spade a spade.

The rule of law is a legal maxim that states “no person is immune to law.” it means that law is equal for every man and no one is above the law is supreme this is purely a concept of democracy where people’s will are supreme and laws are made to meet the expectations of the public. India is the democratic country and rule of law is the hallmark of it we have a vast machinery to protect the rule of the law in our country we have CBI, IB and other investigating agencies they are there to protect the rule of law but because of the police political and criminal nexus the functioning of these agencies are affected very much because agencies like CBI, CID and other investigating agencies start their investigation on the recommendation of state government or central government or SC or HC state governments which are dominated by the MLA’S who have their glorious criminal records generally not preferred to give investigation charge to CBI and they preferred to give the matter to CID which is a puppet at the hands of state government which has made them useless. The functioning of these agencies are dominated by the political masters who hamper it at every level for the primary information of the crime as well as information of the local activity. These agencies are dependent upon the police which corrupt in the present time. they are the criminals in uniform who provide every facility to criminals and help them at every level from the time of registration of the complaint inside the police stations, prisons and even the courts. Sometimes they are involved in escape of criminals from the lockup As the Supreme Court rightly observed that if the protector becomes the predator, the civilized society would cease to exist. This phrase can be to describe the current scenario of India.

CONCLUSION

At present, there is no mechanism which is specifically designated to collect and collate intelligence pertaining to the linkages developed by criminals with the governmental set up. Nonetheless, the various intelligence agencies collect, in the normal course of their functioning, information about the nexus between the bureaucracy and politicians with the Mafia gangs, smugglers and the underworld. These agencies use such available inputs only within the narrow confines of their work charter and choose not to take undue cognisance and follow-up action, leave alone sharing with any other agencies. Thus, all these agencies function within their own cocoons, with the result that a plethora of information fails to get specific and purposeful attention needed for the exposure of the linkages. It is, therefore, necessary to immediately have an institutionalized system which while giving total freedom to the various agencies to pursue their charter of work, would simultaneously cast on them the onus of sharing such inputs to a nodal outfit whose job will be to process this information for attention of a single designated authority. This will enable the nodal Group to provide useful leads to the various agencies and, over time, a progressive database will get generated to facilitate periodic reviews and analysis which could then be passed to a designated body Fighting the nexus between the politicians and criminal elements should become a National agenda transcending party politics. Conscious efforts should be made by all parties to prevent infiltration of criminal elements in their ranks. They should lend their support to amend the Representation of People’s Act to deny opportunities to people with criminal records of moral turpitude and violence, to contest the elections. They should also lend support to pass legislation to deal firmly with organized crime. . There is need for a special legislation – like other countries – to deal with this menace. We need special courts and suitable modifications in the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Acts to make justice swifter. A stitch in time saves nine. The inability of the criminal justice system to deal firmly with infractions like gambling, prostitution, drugs lead to development of organized crime. Yesterday’s petty criminals are today’s dons. Hence, there is a need to nip the budding criminal in early stages which will be helpful in ending nexus considerably.