The graft theory: Legalise bribe to police, angry octogenarian tells court
Assam resident applied for passport twice to go on Haj, but his files did not move beyond the local police station as he refused to pay money.
Bribe-takers and bribe-givers are both offenders in the eyes of law. But a man in Assam has pleaded with the court to legalise bribe especially when it entails policemen.
Eight four-year-old Muktadir Ali Talukdar has written to chief justice of the Gauhati High Court AK Goel urging the court to legalise bribe taken by the police. Talukdar’s plea was based on his personal experiences.
Talukdar had applied for passport twice to go on Haj pilgrimage.
However, on both occasions, his files allegedly did not move beyond the local police station as he refused to pay bribe.
“Last year, I had applied to the regional passport office (RPO) in Guwahati for passport as I had to go on Haj pilgrimage. I produced all documents as sought by the police during verification. Despite that, they demanded bribe. I refused it outright and as a result, my file didn’t move beyond them,” Talukdar claimed.
In due course, the RPO closed his file forcing him to apply for it again. When the police demanded bribe this time around, Talukdar could not but write to Justice Goel urging him to legalise bribe taken by the police.
In the letter, the octogenarian narrated the hardships faced by him and also other Hajis during police verification for passport.
“Since files do not move without giving bribes to the police, it (bribe taken by the police) should be legalised,” he wrote. Demands for bribe and subsequent harassment by the police during verification leave many Hajis missing out on the pilgrimage every year, he alleged.
Within days of Talukdar writing to Justice Goel, officers from the local police station visited him at his residence in Nagaon district to express regrets over what he had to go through. “We’re extremely sorry if it has happened with him. We’ll try and make sure such things don’t occur in the future,” district superintendent of police VR Singh said.
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