COMMENTARY
Breeding ‘Black Sheep’
Sumanta Banerjee
Whenever accusations of
corruption are made and found to
be true, members of the fraternity
of the accused rush to defend
them by saying that these are a
few of the “black sheep”. What is
forgotten is that the black sheep
have become powerful enough
to take over important
institutional structures and make
them serve the private interests
of an oligarchy of privileged
members of political parties,
bureaucracy, financial
institutions, judiciary, and
powerful industrial magnates.
Sumanta Banerjee (suman5ban@yahoo.com)
is a political commentator who is best known
for his book In the Wake of Naxalbari:
A History of the Naxalite Movement in
India (1980).
10
S
ince exceptions prove the rule, the
proliferation of financial scams can
be defended by some as an excep-
tional departure from the rule of law which
is necessary to remind us that the rule
applies in all other cases. It can be a­rgued
that moments of darkness are needed to
make us recognise the value of light. A
similar perverse logic is apparent in some
of the observations being made by members
of the Indian establishment to gloss over the
numerous scandals that have burst like
crackers in a bizarre firework of skuldug-
gery – the stink over the Commonwealth
Games; the 2-G spectrum swindle; the
revelations of the Niira Radia tapes; the
chicanery around the Mumbai Adarsh
Housing Society’s flat allotments; the illegal
loans given by the Life I­nsurance Corpora-
tion (LIC) to real estate c­ompanies; the ne-
farious mining leases by the Bellary brothers
and Chief Minister Yeddyurappa’s largesse
of land to his family members in Karnataka;
corruption charges against the army top
brass; allegations of nepotism against the
Allahabad High Court judges; and – to cap it
all – the sensational revelation by a veteran
Supreme Court lawyer that half of the
apex court’s 16 justices were corrupt!
Whenever such accusations are made –
and often proved correct – against ministers
or MPs, Supreme Court or high court judges,
senior bureaucrats or army g­enerals, press
reporters or TV journa­lists, we are always
assured by the establishment that these
are a few “black sheep”! Members of these
professions rush to the d­efence of their
respective fraternities sometimes even
whitewashing their cri­mes, but generally
taking the apolo­getic ruse that they are
minor “exceptions” which are being “ex-
aggerated”. These “exceptions” are supposed
to prove the rule that our state and regula-
tory i­nstitutions are still solid and pure
enough to prop up the world’s largest demo­
cracy. But what flies in the face of all these
tall claims is the stark fact that although
a minority, the “black sheep” have grown
January 8, 2011  vol xlvi no 2  EPW   Economic & Political Weekly
powerful enough to take over these insti-
tutional structures and make them define
and shape public policies to serve the pri-
vate interests of a corporatocracy (the oli-
garchy of privileged members of political
parties, the bureaucracy, financial institu-
tions, the judiciary, and powerful indus-
trial magnates). In fact, the acts of the
handful of “black sheep” are not innocu-
ous aberrations by a few errant individu-
als as is often made out to be by our estab-
lishment. They are agents of a much wider
network of the unbridled market economy
of the neoliberal global order, which
trains them in skills to broker deals, and
make and break political careers.
Club of the ‘Black Sheep’
In the dark pool of underhand deals, all
political hues submerge their differences
and look the same – whether tricolour,
saffron or even red! The BJP, which is
screaming against the ruling Congress, is
yet to live down the Tehelka sting opera-
tion showing its leaders accepting bribes
while in power at the centre, and is squir­
ming under the present disclosures about
its chief minister in Karnataka illegally
granting land to his relatives and cronies.
We now hear that the CPI(M) also got itself
entangled with the infamous N­iira Radia,
when the West Bengal I­ndus­trial Develop-
ment Corporation (chaired by minister
Nirupam Sen) appointed her Vaishnavi
Corporate Communication (VCC) as its
representative from August 2007 till early
2010. Just before her appointment, the
Tata house (which was also represented
by the VCC) had n­ego­tiated a deal with the
West Bengal Left Front government for
setting up a motor-manufacturing factory
at Singur. Was it the corporate house’s
pressure or persuasion that led the CPI(M)
to appoint the firm? Soon after this,
Webel, the Left Front government’s nodal
agency for development of technology,
electronics and information technology,
appointed the same VCC as its public rela-
tions agency from November 2009 till
July 2010 (Asian Age, 29 November 2010).
These skeletons are now cascading out
from the hitherto locked cupboards of the
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the
Income Tax office, and other agencies –

departments which like the Food Corpora-
tion of India warehouses may not have
enough space for rotten stocks, and are
therefore unloading them! Like the other
official bureaus, these investigative and
surveillance agencies are not all that clean
(they have been accused of lending them-
selves as tools to be used by the government
to fix opponents, and several of their senior
officers have been charged with improbity).
It is not unlikely therefore that they are
selectively releasing documents, under
pressures from the ruling party. Their vul-
nerability to possible kickbacks from certain
corporate houses in return for nailing
their rivals cannot be ruled out either. But
whatever their motives might be, the ex-
posure of intrigues and underhand deal-
ings has reconfirmed and reinforced the
validity of widespread public distrust in our
institutional structures in the domain of
governance, and in the much ballyhooed
virtues of public-private sector participa-
tion in the sphere of economy – both of
which are found to be built on subterfuge.
Somewhere down the line in the historical
evolution from mercantile economy to
modern capitalism, the innocuous flock of
“black sheep” from the old nursery rhyme
which used to bleat offers of “three bags of
wool” for sale, turned into a pack of wolves
in sheep’s clothing, howling for booty. The
bags of the Indian “black sheep” today are
bursting at the seams with millions of cur-
rency, skills in all matters of arcane finan-
cial manipulation, and other sophisticated
tools of self-aggrandisement. They have
succeeded in eroding the edifice of our
much vaunted trinity of the executive, the
legislature and the judiciary, by managing
to smuggle their own agents into these
i­nstitutions who are destroying the nuts
and bolts of the constitutional mechanisms
which are expected to uphold the rights of
the citizens. Corroded by termites of cor-
ruption and crime, the edifice is crumbling
fast, like the old buildings in our urban
metropolises which collapse due to depre-
dation and disrepair. Its other annexe – the
media, described as the Fourth Estate – is
also collaborating in accelerating the pace
of the collapse, as is evident from the Niira
R­adia tape exposures.
The exposures reveal a crisis that these
traditional bourgeois-democratic appara-
tuses of a past liberal system are facing
Economic & Political Weekly  EPW   January 8, 2011  vol xlvi no 2
COMMENTARY
today under the neoliberal order of the generals in central e­stablishments. It is
present era of globalisation. They are now thus in a position to post purchasable
being perceived by the corporato­cracy as functionaries as bureaucrats, double-dealers
structures that have outlived their original as army generals, sadist perverts as police
purposes. They therefore need to be either officials, history-sheeters as ministers,
subverted from within, or re-­organised MPs and MLAs, and pettifoggers as judges.
from without, to serve the new needs of Yet, we should remember that the prede-
the contemporary ruling powers. cessors of this present generation, the
Mundhras and Kairons, thrived under the
The Biradari and Their Apologists regime of our first prime minister. Nehru
These ruling powers have found willing however had a clean image, and despite
recruits from among India’s new genera- his flaws, he did succeed in steering the
tion to meet their requirements. They are post-independence Indian state into the
the spoilt brats of a culture shaped by a arena of world politics as a non-aligned
pampered nexus of a variety of politicians, force with some i­mpact on the global
b­ureaucrats, industrialists, judges and politics of the time.
media magnates, who had passed from But both the present prime minister and
the adolescence of the post-Independence his predecessor, with pretensions to a
decades under the Nehruvian parental s­imilar image, have ended up as puny fig
care, into the adulthood of the post-1990s leaves to hide the misdeeds of their
under the laissez-faire of “liberalisation” of r­espective parties and their cronies. Between
the Narasimha Rao-Manmohan Singh era. the two of them, Atal Behari V­ajpayee and
Due to the availability of this generation Manmohan Singh have managed to bring
of crooks who had been well-trained down the status of India in global politics
during the last two crucial decades of to the position of one of the most corrupt
“liberalisation”, the club of “black sheep” nations, and lagging behind other countries
had enlarged its circle of members and according to the human development
sharpened its fangs in a more sophisti­cated index on education, housing, healthcare,
manner. Some 60 years ago, it could boast of sanitation, and human rights. If corruption
a handful of Haridas Mundhras, Krishna­ and criminality, shrouded in the garb of
macharies, and Pratap Singh Kairons, whose hypocrisy, need a higher centre of learning
exploits look like kindergarten stuff com- and excellence, the place to choose is India.
pared with the achievements of their Since a number of its own members are
present successors. Today, the club has ex- enmeshed in the dubious deals that have
panded its membership from small indus- reduced the country to the present messy
trialists to large corporate houses, from state, the recent exposures cut too close to
suburban judicial magistrates to S­upreme the bones of the respectable Indian estab-
Court judges, from provincial political lishment. There is thus no dearth of apolo-
satraps to central government ministers, gists who soft-pedal the operations of the
from police constables to inspector generals, state-patronised “black sheep”. They re-
from district-level junior officers to director sort to two methods of worming their way
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11
COMMENTARY
out from the embarrassment. One group
starts with the claim that they are a
minority of errant deviants who do not
threaten the system. The other, while
acknowledging the threat, places its trust
in the ability of the system to control these
transgressors – ignoring the fact that its
mechanisms and institutions are too rotten
to live up to that trust. But both rush to
protect their respective biradari – the
bureaucracy, judiciary and legislature –
even when some of their members are
charged with corruption or crime.
Witness for instance Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee’s recent statement
follo­wing the arrest of some top officials
of the LIC. They were accused of granting
housing loans to corporate houses in dubi-
ous deals that run to over Rs 1,000 crore.
Defending the LIC as “very strong and
stable”, he said that its “smooth functioning
will not be affected by aberrations of
one or two officers of the organisation”
(27 November 2010). He remains silent
about the huge loss to the exchequer and
the possibilities of recovering that amount.
The other claim in defence of the institu-
tions is best articulated by the former
Supreme Court judge V R Krishna Iyer
(who has otherwise been frank enough to
criticise deviants from his own fraternity
till now) in a recent statement (The Hindu,
1 Decem­ber 2010). It was in reaction to the
suggestion that the “criterion of impeccable
inte­grity may not always be applied in every
judicial appointment” (made by A­ttorney
General G E Vahanvati before the Supreme
Court on 22 November during the course of
hearings on a writ petition questioning the
appointment of the Central Vigilance Com-
missioner). Krishna Iyer denounced this
observation as a “blasphemy uttered against
the most glorious and finest of the trinity of
instrumentalities under the Constitution
…e­very member thereof is no exception”. It
is shocking to find a former judge using the
word “blasphemy” – ominously suggestive
of the superstitious intolerance in the utter-
ances and practices of fanatic r­eligious out-
fits – to demand immunity for the judiciary.
But what is the moral status of the insti-
tution for which Krishna Iyer is seeking
immunity? Scores of members of his
fraternity, from the apex court and high
court judges to subordinate magistrates in
district courts, have been hauled up for
12
nepotism, bribery, involvement in land scams National Election Watch, an organisation
and other disputes. There is the bizarre working for electoral reforms), who are
case of one Narendra Kumar Jain who was devoid of any ideology and inspired purely
involved in a criminal case and declared an by gluttony for pelf and power. The occa-
absconder by a court in Indore in 1985-86, sional skirmishes among them are mere
but who had been working as an additional exercises in one-upmanship. The current
district and sessions judge in Indore for fight between the Congress and the BJP on
several years till recently! It was only a few the floor of Parliament over the 2-G spec-
months ago that his past caught up with him, trum scandal, for instance, is a political
and Jain was suspended after a vigilance cannibalism of the first order among
inquiry (Indian Express, 21 May 2010). No members of the same club of black sheep,
one knows how many Narendra Jains are with one faction savaging the other.
at the moment sitting in judgment over the
fate of petitioners in different states of India. Fifth Column
Or, take the case of the Allahabad High To this rapid erosion of the credibility of
Court judges ganging up against the institutions, the Indian Fourth Estate has
Supreme Court in defence of their allowing contributed its bit, which is no less signifi-
their kith and kin to practise in the same cant. During the last three or four decades,
court. Does Krishna Iyer expect us to laud the corporate houses have extended their
such a judiciary as “the most glorious and control over their mainstream newspapers
finest of the trinity of instrumentalities?” by displacing the editors from their earlier
As for the other instrumentality – the positions of autonomy in news s­election and
legislature – the MPs and MLAs are driven editorial comments, and r­eplacing them with
by the same herd instinct when it comes to their own representatives (designated as
defending their privileges, however repul- “managing-editors”) who are in total control
sive it may appear to the common people. of both the journalistic and commercial
Cutting across all party lines, parliamen- (sales, advertisements, etc) aspects. The
tarians unabashedly agree on an enormous editorial autho­rity has been further cur-
hike in their pay and perquisites at a time tailed by the introduction of the “contract
when the ordinary citizens are squeezed system” whereby journalists are employed
out by inflation and debt-ridden farmers on a temporary basis, the contract being
are committing suicide. We are not sur- renewed from time to time. Denied any
prised by such obnoxious display of greed rights and privileges that are due to regular
by these MPs, since the influential bulk of employees under the prevalent laws, they
them consists of multimillionaires and are totally dependent on the diktats of
mafia dons (according to the findings of their employers and as a r­esult, quite often
Papers in Public Economics
Call for Papers
The National Institute of Public Finance and Policy has initiated a
lecture series and an annual conference on issues in Public Economics,
in honour of Dr Raja J. Chelliah. Papers on issues broadly in the area of
Public Economics can be submitted for the conference. Papers received
would be subject to review. Accepted papers would be published after
suitable revision. The conference would be organized during March 16-17,
2011 at New Delhi. For all accepted papers, the Institute will reimburse
travel expenses.
Submission of Paper: February 20, 2011
Authors of accepted papers would be intimated by March 5, 2011.
The papers should be sent in soft copy to pipe@nipfp.org.in.
Any other communication regarding the Conference can also be addressed
to kavita@nipfp.org.in or alka@nipfp.org.in
January 8, 2011  vol xlvi no 2  EPW   Economic & Political Weekly

their performances violate the norms of
professional integrity. The ugly practice of
“paid news” (publication of publicity
material in favour of certain politicians as
news in lieu of payment) in a leading news-
paper, exposes the depths to which merce-
nary journalism has descended. The Niira
R­adia tapes have further disclosed the
cozy relationship that senior journalists
develop with public relations functionaries
of dubious reputation within the closed
and cushy environs of the corporate world.
As in other sectors of our society, in the
Fourth Estate too, a new generation of
toadies has emerged who have begun to
think of themselves as decision-makers in
the political process instead of accepting
their role as glorified stenographers. No
wonder therefore that some of the leading
journalists – again in the spirit of b­iradari
– rush to the defence of their besieged col-
leagues who were caught in the Niira Radia
tapes. The same old defensive apology
about a few “black sheep” is being floated
around. “Half a dozen journalists”, says
The Indian Express editorial (30 Novem-
ber 2010), “with apparently varying degree
of indiscretion, do not an institution make”.
But what is being ignored is that these half
a dozen journalists are influential enough
to act as touts in secret deals between
business houses and ministers.
Fashioning of an Ambience
Both the quantitative proliferation in their
numbers and the qualitative upgrade of
their skills, since the 1990s, have enabled
the present generation of “black sheep”,
not only to expand their territory of opera-
tions, but also to create a social ambience
that legitimises their acts of perfidy. They
have succeeded in moulding a consume­
rist environment which immunises the
body politic against any moral repulsion
towards corruption in general, and opens
up layers of avenues to the various sections
of the public to join the amoral race of the
self-seeking. Leading economists and news-
paper commentators help to shape this
environment by lauding consumerism as
a sign of economic growth brought about
by the post-1991 “reforms”. Being a part of
the club of beneficiaries, they naturally
ignore the stark reality of the sufferings
of the people at the grass-root level which
can never be captured by the selective
Economic & Political Weekly  EPW   January 8, 2011  vol xlvi no 2
methodology of statistics collec­ted by
academicians or government agencies.
Starvation and malnutrition among the
rural poor, upper caste oppression of
dalits and exploitation of tribals under a
still-continuing feudal dispensation in
backward districts, coexist with the new
forms of deprivation introduced by the
same much-lauded “reforms” under which
the state and corporate magnates dis-
place villagers from their lands to make
way for mining operations and industrial
projects, and dislodge the urban poor
from their homes and trades to set up
shopping malls in the retail sector or
organise spectacular entertainments like
the C­ommonwealth Games.
It is shocking that these facts escape the
notice of even an eminent economist like
Jagdish Bhagwati, who in a recent lecture
(the Hiren Mukerjee Memorial Annual
Parliamentary Lecture, delivered on 2 Dece­
m­ber 2010) claimed that the “enhan­ced
growth rate has been good for reducing
poverty”, and pleaded for “further trade
liberalisation of trade in all sectors, sub-
stantial freeing up of the retail sector...”
As for the social evils that are greasing the
wheels of this economic growth, Bhagwati
dismissed them in the following words: “It
is easy to exaggerate the corruption we
have today”, and places his trust in “insti-
tutional reforms” and “the use of science”
(a la Nandan Nilekani’s n­ational database
of identity of citizens) to curb corruption.
His inclination to treat allegations of
corruption as “exaggerated” echoes the
common refrain that is repeated by those
who gloss over such cases as minor aber-
rations by a handful of “black sheep”. His
trust in the ability of the institutions to
reform themselves is also misplaced, given
the recent exposures of the misdeeds of
those who head these institutions, and re-
main unpunished. The model of economic
growth that Bhagwati endorses, by its
very orientation towards the privileged
and powerful investors, needs for its im-
plementation the existing instrumentali-
ties of corruption and crime which have
been embedded in the three institutions.
Without underhand deals with ministers
and bureaucrats, how can the corporate
honchos seize chunks of the 2-G spectrum
(in the telecom sector, which is ironically
enough, touted as the most successful
COMMENTARY
example of the benefits of “reform”)? Or,
oust villagers from their homes to set up
five-star hotels, luxury housing estates, and
entertainment parks – all of which are the
brand names for India’s economic growth?
Without the complicity of a collusive judi-
ciary, how will the State suppress forest
tribal communities who protest against
encroachment on their lands by these
corporate agents of economic growth? It is
not surprising therefore that a district and
sessions judge of Chhattisgarh sentences
a world-known human rights activist like
Binayak Sen who fought on behalf of these
tribal people, to life-­imprisonment. As
Harsh Mander, a member of the National
Advisory Council, commenting on the
sentence, said: “the police and judiciary
are not above the influence of political
objectives”. Is India any better than China
in its treatment of human rights activists?
In a country where justice can be vapo­
rised to suit the political powers, either by
co-option, bribing or intimidation of the
judiciary, corruption and crime gain a
grudging social nod, and even legitimacy,
as necessary instrumentalities for eco-
nomic growth. It is sad that intellectuals
like Bhagwati award chits to “economic
reforms” and their agents, which bolster
the mainstream media (already bought up
by the corporate sector) to shape public
opinion in favour of a lopsided growth.
Newspapers and television channels pur-
vey news and opinions as hormones for a
public which is being motivated by pure
self-interest and desire for conspicuous
consumption. Rights under democracy are
being reinterpreted as the freedom of
avaricious individuals to work up their
way by hook or by crook to join the nouveau
riche and create enclaves of their own
choosing, which stick out like sore thumbs
in the midst of the vast swathes of poverty
and social discrimination.
India is the most dangerous example of
how a democratic society can be insidiously
turned into a totalitarian society where
the common citizens are captives in the
neoliberal market of conformity, where a
minority of like-thinking individuals wield-
ing power and influence ooze concurrence
on every side in favour of their gluttony. A
decaying and cynical d­emocracy like India
can prolong its d­epraved existence only by
breeding black sheep.
13