Bureaucracy misleading people for 70 years, says Allahabad HC

Lucknow, Dec 14 (IANS) The Allahabad High Court (HC) on Thursday made a damning remark on the bureaucracy, saying government officials have only mislead people in the last 70 years.

The observation came from Justice S.P. Kesharwani while hearing the case of one Dulari Devi, who has been fighting her case for the last 19 years.

Rapping the bureaucracy for delay in implementation of the Uttar Pradesh Public Interest Guarantee Act 2011, the court said the laws for curbing graft were deliberately made complicated so that accountability of the corrupt officials could not be fixed.

Justice Keshwarwani observed that in case one wanted to procure an income certificate, as per rule it should be done in two days, and if it was not disposed of within two days, the application would automatically stand cancelled.

There is a provision of first appeal against non-issuance of the certificate, and if not satisfied, the petitioner could make a second appeal, after which a penalty could be slapped on the callous official.

To implement this, the high court said appellate authorities should be constituted in all government departments, but this had not happened even after six years. And to add to this, rules were being framed to make the legal battle of the petitioner more complicated, the court observed.

So finally, the petitioner decides to pay the "suvidha shulk" (bribe), the court said.

The judge also noted that the RTI had become hugely successful as the rules there were clear cut.

The state government counsel sought time from the high court to get back on the matter. The hearing would continue on Friday.

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