Khurshid and the guttersnipes

It does Salman Khurshid, the union law minister, absolutely no good to resort to abuse and call Arvind Kejriwal and his friends ‘guttersnipes’. This name calling is not seemly. It is also no answer whatsoever to the charges levelled against him and the minister himself has not been able to deny that there is a dispute. Arvind Kejriwal is no guttersnipe but, on the contrary, many would look upon him as a hero who is doing a public service. It is no easy task to fight against corruption and the corrupt and it requires individuals with guts to do it. The social activist, as well as the television channel which has investigated the story, have put forward allegations against Khurshid  which are serious indeed. Khurshid is not above the law. If Khushid is innocent of the charges, he can always resort to law courts to have his name cleared. If, however, he is culpable, then he must submit to the punishment that is due to him, which is nothing less than a long jail term. It has been alleged that Khurshid and his wife have syphoned Rs 71 lakh that was meant to help disabled people. They are said to have embezzled funds that came from government by forging the signatures of government officials. Nothing could be worse if they have fooled the disabled for personal benefit in this way. It is a despicable act indeed. In fact, Khurshid has shown flexibility in relation to corruption before. He is known to have interfered in the investigations of the 2G scam. At that time, when the Attorney Genera had given his opinion, having listed grounds for booking a private company in a case of cheating,  the law ministry, under the instructions of Khurshid, gave a surprising opinion that no case was made out, which was used in court by the company to seek the quashing of charges against it.  There is little doubt that the case of embezzlement is a a fit one for the intervention of prime minister Manmohan Singh, who has recently spoken out against corruption, seeking a review of the corruption laws.  This is a fit case for him to demonstrate his commitment to the cause and he must show this by not  defending colleagues who may be criminal. Khurshid, as a member of the cabinet, is a powerful person and is capable of influencing the investigation against him. He has aleady attempted to discredit the disclosures by suggesting that some of them were the result of a conspiracy by junior offficals. This is nothing but an attempt to intimidate government officials who may be in the know of facts. If Khurshid remains in office, the evidence may vanish. As he is unlikely to resign on his own, the prime minister should ensure that he is summarily sacked.