Family Of Sincere Officer Babus

The lawyer's call

"Sincere officers face all the scrutiny", said Nirmala when she saw the face of her tense husband, Rajesh. 

Rajesh's face turned worried after he received a call from his lawyer about the corruption case. "The politicians promise the people a corruption-free government. Politicians protect their flock, i.e. the opposition parties. They come behind officers because officers are easy targets. But I am here. Don't worry. I will get the case dismissed soon", said the lawyer.

"I am suspended and struggling with less money in hand", said Rajesh in a requesting tone.

"Give me a little more time", said the lawyer and disconnected the call.

Nirmala walked back into the room as Rajesh was finishing the call. She quickly had a final check of her handbag and signalled Rajesh to move. 

Rajesh's family were on a trip that day. The suspension was a blessing in disguise for the family. Nirmala, a generous one, invited all the extended family. Brothers, cousins, kids, and the older folk filled up a five-car battalion. 

The trip with uncles

Rajesh waited till everyone got in and did a count of everyone. He then checked and got into a car far away from Nirmala. Rajesh settled down in the window seat as the car started to move. A few minutes off, he was searching for something in his pocket and turned. That was when he noticed the actual evil, Ravi. Ravi was the younger brother of his father. He was the first-generation group one officer in the family. 

Before Rajesh could say namaste, Ravi asked Rajesh the dreaded question. 

"What happened?"

With a sinking feeling in his heart, Ravi was getting ready to answer. But Ravi had different plans.

"We never got into any trouble. I worked for thirty-five years clean record", Ravi was going on. 

Rajesh went into his world, ignoring Ravi. It was not like there was something new Ravi was going to say. It was the third such trip they were on, and Ravi had the same thing on every trip.

Rajesh, in his mind, had all the answers.

"During your times, the country was struggling to feed people. The ministers were busy in "Garibi Hatao" slogans. Corruption was not even a talking point. Now, every minister's first promise is corruption hatao."

Rajesh turned when Ravi shook him. Rajesh nodded to mean, "What?".

"What, what? Tell me what happened?" asked Ravi.

"It was a silly issue. Three departments planned a work and called tenders. The three contracts are to be done one after another in an order. The first contract was to dig open the road, and the second was to fill the underground electric wiring. The first contractor closes what they dug after the second contractor finishes wiring. The last one is a contract to lay the road. "

Before Rajesh continued, Ravi asked, "What is the value of contracts?"

"A total of one hundred fifty crores. The first contractor paid the minister fifteen crores, the second one twenty crores, and the third one thirty crores before they won the online bid for the contracts. So, the minister asked us to do a basic level of scrutiny and release the bills quickly. We, however, had to go to the site and take pictures when work was going on."

"Did you miss taking them?" asked Ravi.

"No. I was there on the day of work. I took pictures of the area where work was going on. It was hot, so I came back to the office. A few days later, I went to investigate the closure of work. I took pictures of the area where it showed the completion of the work as per the contract."

"Looks simple. Then what happened? Did you take commission directly into your bank or something?" asked Ravi.

"No. The contractors came to our house and gave the commission at home", said Rajesh.

"Did you ask for a property and got caught?" asked Ravi.

"No, it was all cash. Two thousand rupee notes", said Rajesh.

"What went wrong then?" wondered Ravi.

"The first contractor had run out of money after paying all the bribes to ministers. With the photos, he got some bills passed. Then he was waiting for the electrical guys for some time. That contractor had no money to start the work. So, we got some funds released for him even before work started. All the money he got only covered the bribes and interest on them. "

"Did he give you anything?" asked a worried Ravi.

"Yes."

"Good. Our family blood" announced a proud Ravi.

"The third contractor came forward to finish his work as his interests were running high. So, we passed some bills for him. Now, the first contractor dug a little. The third guy has to lay the road to get more money. But the electric guy has not placed the wires. Ignoring this, the other contractors decided to finish the work. Only then will the final bills be passed. So, the first contractor closed the holes he dug. The third guy laid the roads to the extent where they dug the road. We passed all the bills."

"Did the bills not match what was released?" asked Ravi.

"No. That is all clean", replied Rajesh.

"Then what happened?"

"Some crazy new minister went to assembly and said they saved money in the contract."

"Did they?"

"Yes. The electric contractor had to stop work halfway, and all that money is unused."

"Hmm.." reacted Ravi.

"Some guy went to RTI and asked for the details of the contract. After that, the audit asked us how can we sign off. Someone in the department leaked all the details of the minister's bribe for this contract. Then, the opposition party started digging. Once they were in power, the cases started. Minister paid higher-ups to get a clean chit. All the officers involved are roaming the courts."

As Rajesh was finishing the story, he got a call from the lawyer. Before the lawyer could say anything, Rajesh started to talk. 

"I have an idea. I will ask my friend to do a thorough investigation of the work. Their department does this work once in a while without ever getting my name out. For that work, they will have to call tenders. We will make sure the tender goes to the earlier contractor. With the new tender, he can get this work done. The other department can give the report. We can use that to clear me."

The lawyer had only one word, "Brilliant".

The uncle asked, "Who will do the report with so much risk?"

"Cousing Girish has already started on that. I waited till the tender notice was in the papers."

"How much he gets for that?"

"He is taking more than 75% of the share. I had to accept due to the case."

P.S.: The niece of Rajesh, who was listening to the story, said, "So, you dug to lay wires and then closed and laid road as the electrical contractor was absent. You then boasted you saved money."

"More or less", doubtfully replied Rajesh to the judging eyes of the niece. 

"You are brilliant", said the niece and the next-generation babu was getting ready in the family.