Ethics Case Study – 24 _ INSIGHTS

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2/27/2014 Ethics Case Study – 24 | INSIGHTS

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Akan d SitraOctober 31, 201 3 at 5:22 pm

It is a grea t misfortune to see tha t unt ouchability and its associated perils still persist in this countr y . This is extr emely ram pan

in ru ral India. First and foremost, th ere should be an awa reness campaign a cross India about th e crimin al consequences of such

discrimination. Ev ery one should know how they migh t suffer if they discrimina te a SC/ST person. Secondly , one should work fo

the upliftment of poor SC/STs. Th e reserv ation quota should be utilised well, by all economic classes of the oppressed sections.

In this case, I shall sternly shout at m y gran dmother for doing such a h orrible act. I will ask her imm ediately to apologise to my

friend. I shall also apologise to him in front of ev ery one. I am sur e that h e will understand and will forgiv e my gra ndmother.

Aft er a ll, he is m y best fri end a nd h e would respec t h er for h er a ge a tleast . I sha ll th en t ell ev ery one in th e house a nd t he v ill ag e

how untoucha bility is abolished and how discrim ination is criminalised and one must respect another hum an being for what h e

is and for not the comm unity he is born in.

Reply

Aditya JhaOctober 31, 2013 at 7 :20 pm

Ak an d,

Your gr an dmother h as com mitt ed a cr im e, one th at ent ai ls fin e and i mp risonm ent . Would y ou con done h er of h er m ista kes

just bec au se she i s y our fam ily mem ber ?

What if a ny one else in th e v ill ag e would h av e com mitted t he sam e cr im e?

You a re a publ ic ser v an t a nd y ou m ust be ‘i mp ar tia l’ i n y our deal ing s. Law appl ies to ev ery one.

Reply

Akan d SitraOctober 31, 201 3 at 11 :03 pm

I understand wh at y ou are sayin g. But, I would respect one’s age also. She is 85, ev en if she were not my gran dmother,

any old lady any where wh o is around 85, I would be sympathetic.

I would m ake her a pologize and tell h er she did a mistake. I would leav e the police complain t decision to my friend. If he

feels he was really offended and feels that the old lady should be punished, he may very well go ahead and complain. And

I would support an d respect tha t decision.

But, I my self would not proactively go and file a police complain t aga inst an old lady. We should respect her fragile an d wea k body an d un der stand h er ign orant mi nd. I guess a ny one w ould do the sam e.

Reply

Anjali

October 31, 201 3 at 11 :35 pm

Aka nd, my v iew s ar e sam e as y our , I wr ote in my an swer th at only , lat er I r ead y ou v iew s. Its easy to aspire to be a n

idealist but practically it takes time to reach at th at lev el.

Reply

Azra Abdu llaNovember 1, 2013 at 1:59 am

There can be cases where one clenches to his traditional v alues inspite of being war ned of legal consequences, and

this sort of perceptions are still th e root causes of such discrim inations here!If the gra ndmother is not apologizing

after the warning,then disregarding her age she should be made liable to the law.After a ll, first imparting

knowledge and then if found not following,w e are bound to mov e legally .

Reply

AnjaliNovember 1, 2013 at 3:18 am

Azr a, If y ou tell y our gr an dmother , th at if she cont inu es to do so, th en y our job will be in dan ger , bec au se its

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y our u y o sa egu ar n eres o ev ery sec on o soc e y . eop e w comp a n ag a ns y ou or no o ow ng

law, a nd govt will suspend y ou, then will she not listen to you? deal emotionally with fam ily members,

definitely t hey support y ou.

Reply

Aditya JhaNovember 1, 2013 at 10:10 am

We both ac know ledg e th at she i s ign orant . A nd, ha d y ou been a n or dina ry cit izen, y our cour se of ac tion wou ld be

laudable.

But, for a moment consider y our duties and r esponsibilities. What if someone comes to know about y our act ions?

Would th ey tr ust y ou a ny more w ith th e la ws?

You a re a civ il ser v an t a nd y ou ju st saw a cr im e bein g c omm itted. Despite al l t he odds y our fir st r esponsibil ity is to g o

ahead and register a complaint proactively.

Abou t h er ign orance: Th e SC r ecen tl y ru led t ha t t he la w w ould appl y ev en i f th e per son is una wa re of l aw s.

Abou t h er ag e: Ev en t hou gh th e la w a pplies to ev ery one, i t i s appl ied different ly . Th erefore, consider ing her a ge, th e

legal sy stem would itself ask her for a m inima l fine. She would not be sentenced to prison.

My point essentially is that we can a ct with in the fram ework of the legal system. It has the desired flexibility.

An d, t hi s act ion w ould defin ite ly set a prec eden t, deter ri ng fut ur e v erbal/non -verbal at ta cks a ga inst th e SC/ST.

But, y ou hav e a different perspective towar ds the case and I appreciate it.

Reply

sidwhoNovember 1, 201 3 at 9:20 pm

i know that is the answer one would write in exam ..

but frew th ing s th at one m nu st be a cqu ain ted w ith is its not y ou w ho ca n fi le a compla int but y our fri end.

and if the la w w as the only social change determinant ,untouchability would hav e gone by t oday .Protection of

Civil Rights Act, 1 955. SC/ST act 19 89.. t hat s quite some tim e since the law s hav e been passed!!!

one must be apprised of the social conditions and personal mindsets and historically and cult ura lly established v al ues , wh ich ha v e prett y muc h en ter d th e DNA of some people in indi a

wh at one cou ld do is t ry to per sua de y our gr an dmother an d v ill ag ers a rou nd . by cit ing exam ples m ay be of

gandhi , krishna sudama..

a phy iscal gesture of holding y our friends han d or giv ing him a h ug an d telling that t his doent not polute

him..telling he would eat at their place.etc etc..

tha t sends a signal mu ch powerful than a l aw can ev er be..and with th e position of respect you hav e recently

achiev ed ,,, your actions are just unignorable. th is wont just ma ke the so called upper castes think a bout it but als

give y our friend and commu nity t he much deserv ed respect they ah oud hav e

my two cents– revolutions did not come with laws but enlightened mindsets

Reply

1st RANKER November 1, 2013 at 3 :19 am

I will try to handle the situation gently as victim is my friend and being an officer people will listen my w ord.

i will ma ke them understand about th e my ths of untouchability and persuade grandmother to say sorry to my friend in this

wa y wi ll tr y to h eal th e sent im ent s wh ich wa s offended du e to utter use of w ords by my gr an dma ,

here compromise should be the preffered action and still if they r efuse to fall in line and continuously try to offend him then

he mu st lodge complain aga inst them and let law should take its own course.

Reply













tOctober 31, 201 3 at 5:49 pm

It is indeed unfortu nate th at un touchability and caste-based discrimina tions continu e to be practiced in today’s tim es in our

country . Not only are such practices morally and ethically inconsiderate, but also constitut ionally incorrect.

However, this is a harsh reality , which cannot be wished away . It is also important to understand that attitudnal chang es

cannot be affected instantl y , especially when th ey h av e been formed ov er generations. At the same tim e, that is no excuse, for

wh at is wrong in t h ey es of law, is wr ong.

In this situation, my first reaction would be to calm m y grandmother down a nd explain to her the wrong that she has

committ ed. I, along with my gra ndmother w ould also apologize to my friend. I am confident th at w e would be able to am icably

resolve the situation.

However, m y dut y - both as a civil serva nt, an d an enlightened individua l-does not stop there. Such an incident would serve as

remin der for continued efforts to weed out such ill-practices. I would take th e lead in initia ting a war eness cam paigns-both for

the SC/ST comm unity regarding their rights and remedies, as well as for the community at la rge. This would ensure that there

is no repeat of the situation.

Reply

StGOctober 31, 201 3 at 8:30 pm

Adden dum - ‘am ica bly resolv e th e situ at ion. Nev ert heless, i f m y fri end w ished to pr ess a for mal compla int i’d be

understanding and supportive of his decision’

Just to make it slightly more balanced

Reply

SagarOctober 31, 201 3 at 7 :05 pm

In this situa tion, i am acting in tw o roles, one of a grandson & other one of a civ il serva nt & a responsible citizen.

Observ ing this happening in front of me, my strategy of action will be-

(1) Stop my grandmother at tha t v ery m oment when she was scolding him. I should make her understand that he is my best

friend & abov e all, a hum an being who deserv es equality to all of us.

(2) I will tell her that, there are rules according to which she can be penalised for practicing untouchability.

(3) Since this is problem ha s very deep roots, so to stop this pract ice completely , i will ta ke help of vill age pancha y at, w here i

wi ll sprea d th e m essag e th at pra ct icin g u nt ouch abi lit y wi ll la nd t hem in a big tr ouble.

Reply

Aditya JhaOctober 31 , 2013 at 7 :17 pm

Being a public servant it should be my priority to eradicate such a gr ossly unjust practice continuing ev en today . At the same

time, It is clear that my grand mother is unaware of both the law and the legal consequences that follow her action. However,

the practice is unjust ev en unknowingly.

I would request my gra ndmother to apologise to the v illagers and m y friend for her comm ents. I should inform h er of my dut ies

and responsibilities as a public serva nt. Th en, I should proceed forward registering a form al complaint a gainst m y g randm othe

under th e SC/ST Atrocities Act.

One may accuse me of going against my family, but one must be reminded that m y family has grown bigger: now, it includes

all Indians.

Reply

prashantOctober 31 , 2013 at 1 1:26 pm

aditya,

can’t it ha ppen that t he IAS officer tells her gra ndmother t o apologize for her actions and if she gets ready for th is and the

problem and the differences gets resolved and eliminated without any case against a senior citizen who is basically unaware

of the laws.and also you can m ake those v ictims aware of the law and leave t he decision on them whether th ey want to

register the complaint against the grandma or not after the apologies made by her.because after-all the main aim is to bring

the brotherh ood kind of feeling among the people, wha tev er being the way to achieve it.







http://itsmesagar.wordpress.com/









Reply

Aditya JhaNovember 1, 2013 at 9:52 am

Prashant,

If I was a cit izen what y ou hav e said would suffice.

But, th is course of action does not suit a civ il serva nt. If we are relucta nt to act ag ainst people waiting for settlement ,

then the w hole law machinery is of little use.

Moreover, I think al l citizens, including senior citizens, are equal before law. Howev er, the la w applies differently . She

may get reduced sentence or fine given h er age.

But, wh at if any one else had commit ted this crime. Would your course of action be the same?

Apologi zing , if coul d serv e th e purpose, t hen ev ery perpetr at or w ould h av e ap ologized a nd esc aped th e clut ches of law.

My point may seem extrem e, but th is is how law should be applied. More so, if you ar e willing to be partial a t th e very

outset of your career, it sends a wr ong signal to others.

Reply

scOctober 31, 201 3 at 7 :43 pm

y our la st stat ement is im pressiv e. r eac ti ng in t hi s wa y may lea ds to m an y bad persona l con sequenc es. a nd people may say th at

kannu k char a ksar kya padlia ghar wa lo ko hi bhul gay a…then how would y ou react.

beca use y our ac tion is v ery ext rem e, people(g ra ndm other) get neg at iv e im pac t of it .

Reply

Aditya JhaOctober 31, 201 3 at 8:20 pm

This is something a public servan t ha s to liv e with, SC. Societal react ions, if could chan ge my stand, then I would not be

eligible to serv e the public in the first place.

One would alway s be criticised for an ideal stand. I do not think it is an ext reme step, but a na tur al one. Had any one else

committed this crime, would you have not registered a case? Then, why discriminate between citizens? impartiality is a

principle that Civ il serv ants hav e to imbibe in them.

Reply

AnjaliOctober 31, 2 013 at 8:52 pm

Adit y a, don’t y ou thi nk goin g for police c ompl iant , w ill lea d to m ore h at red a mong c omm un it ies. A ssert iv e dem an d of

rights in many places lead to more v iolence on backward communities in indirect way . Or even y our family may boy cot

y ou, a s it is deep r ooted ideolog y th ey follow .

In my practical life I found many times upper caste people hate lower caste commu nities because of reservat ion and

priv ileges ev en if they hav e same economic status wit h other people of upper caste. Reserva tion policies are leading to

more hatred among different caste in modern educated youth.

I know you will prov ide very good explanation, wait ing for that.

Reply


An jal i,

You h av e a v ery v al id point an d it ha ppens in pra ct ice. I woul d expla in f irst th e ba sis of my ar gu ment th en t he

answer to y our question.


















decision….i am softwar e engineer preparing for civil serv ice ..i did intercaste m arr iage in uppercaste i am

belon gin g fr om SC com mun ity ..m y in l aw s muc h believ ing in c ast ism ev en t hey nev er d rin k w at er w hi ch giv en

by my ha nd……i n t hi s condion i kn ow ev ry steps lega l w hi ch i ca n t ak e but i cnt ……it s imapc t on my hu bby too

can u give m e any suggestion wh at should i do?

Reply

Aditya JhaNovember 1, 2013 a t 3:08 pm

Hi Neelam,

I really a ppreciate your courage for putting th is upfront. What y ou are going through w ould be unacceptable

to anyone. I am v ery sorry for that, really .

The course of action I had prescribed is fit to be followed by a civ il serva nt. But , for an ordinary citizen legal

action should be the last resort when everything else fails. As Laws can only change their behaviour towards

y ou, n ot thei r feelin gs. A nd, I am sur e y ou w an t t o cha ng e thei r feeli ng s not j ust th eir behav iour .

Your hu bby ha s to be v ery suppor tiv e in th is. You should fac e y our in l aw s an d tel l t hem how bad y ou feel

wh en t hey behav e w ith y ou in th is way . Tell th em wh at if t hey ha d to fa ce t he sam e. I kn ow few dau gh ter -in-

law s would hav e the courage to face their in la ws like this, but th e situa tion has turn ed so. If you continue to

ignore these sma ll signals, which a re nothing but the tip of the iceberg of feelings towards you, in futu re y ou

might face even stronger rev ulsions. Talk to your hubby directly about t his, he must help y ou in such a

situation. His love for you would surely do, wh ich is evident fr om his decision to spend his entire life with y ou

despite all odds in the fam ily .

Finally, I am sure when y ou become an officer, they would surely bend their behaviour towards you. Even

now, y ou are in a very good position being a softwar e engineer, but the tr aditional society lit erally worships

officers.

Perhaps you would hav e thought a nd even acted earlier simila r to my suggestion, y ou should be stronger this

time.

Than ks for finding me sensible enough to adv ice you. Wish y ou good luck for your endeav our.

Reply

neerajNovember 10, 2013 at 6:36 pm

Adi ty a . . dont u feel t ha t t her e is a differ enc e bet ween w ha t u prea ch an d wh at u pr ac tic e. U on one h an d

are say ing th at u w ould lodge a FIR against y our gran dma, w here as u ar e asking Anjali to not lodge an FIR

and ta lk to her = hubby about th is problem instead of filing an FIR. Why should there be doublestandard for

an IAS officer and comm on public when constitution and its preamble adv ocate equality and non

discrimination on basis of caste.

Does it not seem hy pocritical to put y our own gra ndma in jail a nd preach others not to do sam e?? Is an IAS

officer first not an ordinary citizen??

I dont mean t o be judgementa l but it seems that u feel that being upright is the only purpose of a civ il

serv ant. As a civ il serv ant, y ou hav e to be empathetic about behav iour of others and at times their

beh av iour wi ll be tota lly differ ent from y our s cau se of differ ent social upbrin gin g t ha n y our s. You ha v e to

be a n a dmini str at or a nd y ou h av e to take ev ery one together w ith y ou. Y ou h av e to dea l w ith cr im ina ls and

politicians, who will lie and break law s in front of u. You should be pragm atic in y our approach.

Here, in this, you hav e to find a middle way , empathising with both ur friend and ur grandma. If on every

single mistake, one starts taking legal action, the world would be a chaos. You have to make your point and

also hav e a balance. Sternly protesting ur grandmas point of view will put u as a forthright officer and w ill

help allev iate ill feeling from y our friend. Your friend would hav e never ent ered the premises had u not

been th ere as h e a lr eady know s y our gr an dmas a tt itu de. He ha s come th ere to m eet y ou a nd n ot y our

grandma. Apologising to him on her behalf would placate him. Also, if your grandma so belives in castism,

she would not honour y our call for apologising to y our friend. So asking her to apologise will only l ower y ou

standing. So, the best way is to apologise y ourself on her behalf. Also, let y our friend decide if he wan ts to go

for filing a FIR.

Reply











Aditya JhaNovember 11 , 2013 at 3:05 pm

The fact tha t the adm inistrators of today are pragm atic ha s resulted in a situation wher e no one

respects the la w. It seems as if one can escape the clu tches of law because it is tough for any

administra tor to ta ke decisions.

An swer a sim ple quest ion of m ine: What if a ny one else un know n t o y ou h ad broken th e sam e la w

abusing y our ST friend? Would you hav e compromised even then?

Your wor ds refl ect th at y ou tak e th is offenc e v ery lig ht ly to be sort ed out wi th comprom ise andintegra tion. This is clearly not the case. Discriminat ion based on caste is against the FR of any citizen. If

y ou do not ta ke FR seri ously , t he noth ing can be ta ken more ser iously . The question al so men ti ons th at

y our gr an dma h as com mitted a n offen ce. So, it is not subj ect to the int erpr eta tion of y our fri end.

If you know about th e actual implementation of laws in the country, y ou would know tha t they are

applied with due regard taking ev ery thing into account. The grandma would not be put in jail a s she is

v ery old, bu t onl y fined. Thi s prov ision i s cal led equa l pr otect ion of la ws -Ar tic le 1 4.

An d, if one does not ta ke a cti on in such cases, one does n ot h as t he apt itu de to be a c iv il ser v an t. Th e la c

of aptitude in today’s civil servants had led to a situation where everything can be compromised.

Impartiality is the primary trait of a civ il servant, n ot necessarily of an ordinary citizen.

Besides, an adm inistrat or and a citizen are different in a n um ber of respects and y ou should know that .

My course of action would obviously be different from tha t of a citizen.A cit izen is supposed to respect th

laws, not uphold it. A civ il serva nt upholds the laws and the constitutional v alues. It is necessarily

double standard th at is giv en in the constitution considering the pract icality of situations.

Balancing decisions is different from wh at y ou hav e mentioned. It is not about compromising, but

hav ing sensitiv ity to all while deciding a course of action. And, at times sensitiv ity for one party would

outweigh the others.

Laws should not be implemented mech anicall y . This would be evident to you if you see my answer

wh ere a l ady is in need of b lood tr an sfusion, but t he laws do n ot a llow it. But , h ere th e ca se is tot al ly

different.

I also understand th at w e hav e different v iew points but th at does not mean one of them has to be

necessarily wrong. It is about th e perspectiv e from which y ou see it : short-term or long-term;

individua l or society ; laws or customs; responsibility or relations etc.

Also, go th rou gh th e Prel im s Q papers a nd UPSC solu ti ons for 2 01 1 an d 201 2. You wou ld fin d th at often

conflicting and contrasting decisions are giv en as answers. You would understand the above para graph

them. Read through my reply to Anjali then, y ou would be crystal clear about what to do and, what

not?

Endless argu ment s can be posed against a ny one course of action. Ultima tely one has to opted for and of

y our choice, but wh at ma tt ers ev en m ore is t he justifi cation for it .

Reply

NikkuNovember 11 , 2013 at 6:52 pm

Adit y a,

I like your lin e of argu ment . Wanted to know your t hought s on the following:

1. Isn’t booking grandm a a sort of treat ment for the sy mptom an d not the disease?

2. Your friend ha s been liv ing in th e villa ge from childhood. He must be awa re of the societal

relations and norms prevalent. What if he is actually not offended, but rather just looks at you and

smiles in a fashion conv eying “ there y ou go again ;)”.

3. Your booking grandma could potentially create a ru ckus and make a m ountain of a mole hill.

Something, t hat could hav e possible been addressed and signed off with a simple apology, migh t now

becom e a maj or issue. Thi s could cost t he ta xpa y ers m oney an d cr eat e “u nn ecessary ” l aw an d order

problem. Is that justified? The job of an IAS officer is to mainta in law and order, not create la w a nd

order situat ions

Btw, just play ing devil’s advocate her e, as my r esponse to the problem was quite similar to yours..









but th en t he abov e are som eth ing th at tel ls m e tha t t he complet e pic tu re h as pr obabl y not been

understood, and booking gr andm a is not th e best course of action. There is scope for a m uch better,

sensitive, empathetic and rational response.

Let me know. Thanks!

Reply

Aditya JhaNovember 11, 2013 at 10:37 pm

Hi Nikku,

Please go thorough m y r eply to Anjali on laws and their implem entat ion. It is abov e these

comment s. That would address some of your concerns.

No Law ca n treat the disease, it only holds the pathogens from a ttacking. They can nev er treat

the disease, Education can. Laws only change the behaviour not the attitude. You can read all

this in my reply to Anjali. For the rest, i hav e the following to argue :

I did not write th e awa reness part in the a nswer as it w as out of the demand of the question. It is

surely a part of the solution but it w as an ethics question, not a norm al GS question.

Coming back to the situation, let us say t hat we do not ta ke any action against Grandma. A day

later someone else from th e v illage a buses a SC/ST resident and y our are informed of it. Going by

y our ar gu ment s one shou ld a v oid ta kin g a ny ac tion as it wou ld r esul t i n a la w a nd or der

problem. But, on the contrar y wha t if this persistent abuse itself results in a la w and order

problem. There are possibilities either wa y . The recent clashes in a Tamilna du vil lage were in

news relating to casteism and its abuse . Even though the case was not the same, it had similar

dimensions in a way .

But, th ere are alw ay s possibilities of reconciliation Howev er, y ou are not going to live in the

v ill ag e for l ong. An d, it wou ld cert ai nly be u topia n t o expec t som eone el se to be c ha rg e de a ffai rs

after you leave. How many conflicts like this can be conciliated?

Consider another ar gum ent. What if you complained about this person wh o abused a lower caste

the next day . Would the v illagers feel good about y ou considering th at y ou sav ed your

grandma(family) and caught the rest. Is it a good example to set?

Certainl y a good example can be set by booking both t he gra ndma a nd the person for the offence

This would act as a reminder for the whole community not to repeat the offence. However, the

deterrence would be ephemer al, but does that m ean th at th e law should not be applied?

Similar ily , extending t he same logic of inaction in sensitive cases, no Pakistani t errorist should b

caug ht an d tried as it would affect the sentim ents of the terr orist groups operating from Pak.

They m ay even retaliate to revenge the killing of their partner. This in fact happened after the

hanging of Afzal Guru. Therefore, it was unwise of the courts to try and hang Guru, by this set of

reasoning. So, we should apply law s keeping the sentim ents of all in m ind while considering th e

repercussions of its application too.

Would th at be w ise?

Should we let someone’s fundamental rights being violated for preventing it may create a law

and order problem?

The SC recently ruled th at featu ring film s in theatres can not be stopped just because there is a

thr eat to law and order because of it. The Vishw aroopam mov ie is a case in point. It would

impinge upon the FR of freedom of speech and expression.

Much better, sensitiv e, empath etic and ra tional response is also a utopia as Simon said. There is

limit to arguments and rationality . One can alway s argue the other way and justify his/her

action.

I hope you got my message.

Anjali

Nov em ber 1 2 01 a t : 8 m









Neelam,

Adit y a i s rig ht , in say ing la w sh ould be la st r esort , in persona l r ela ti ons. I felt I should tel l u somet hi ng .

You sh ould just g iv e th em tim e, l et t hem decide th ey wa nt to ch an ge or not. no one c an ch an ge others fu lly ,

Ac cept th is u can’t chan ge t hem . They only can c ha ng e th em selv es.

Wha t I sug gest , y ou should mak e y our self strong em otiona lly to n ot n ot get a ffect ed by th eir behav iour . A nd

other hand continue your good behaviour towards them. Its not easy, but continuously practicing this surely

wi ll mak e y ou strong . Bel iev e m e it wor ks.

You c an ta ke h elp of m edit at ion, to bec ome emotiona lly str onger . I follow Bra hm ak um ar is m edit at ion it hel ped

me lot, to surpass difficult situa tion. Its our ch oice v arious way s are av ailable.

Don’t expect much from your hubby, he can’t take ones side, as after all they are his parents and he belongs to

that culture only. Here only making yourself emotionally strong helps.

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RajneeshNovember 6, 2013 at 12 :31 pm

An jal i, y ou h av e sur fac e kn owledge a bout th e com mun it ies. Disc ri mi na tion an d un touch abi lit y not a r ecen t

phenomena, it is coming from Vedic period.when t here is no reserva tion for lower caste ..then w hat is ma in reason of

discrim ination .? The reason is Varn system.w hich is indirect reserva tion for upper caste.

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scOctober 31, 201 3 at 9:22 pm

adity a. i like your point that if public reaction will effect decision then not eligible for civ il serv ant .

but th is ac ti on is the only sollu tion ? ca n n ot g o wit h m iddle wa y .?

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Middle way s are alway s preferable but not at the cost of the law.

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StGOctober 31, 201 3 at 8:26 pm

Hi Adity a

An im pressiv e an swer wi th am ple j ust ific at ion for y our sta nd

Just a question (totally unr elated to the ethics part ) that w as sparked off from y our answer- can a civil serv ant (DC here) take

suo motu cognizance of discriminat ion under the Act? (In any case, I guess a complain t can be registered by a third part y )

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Aditya JhaOctober 31, 201 3 at 9 :15 pm

Thanks StG.

He can register a complaint suo moto only if an incident happens before her/him .

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vipu lOctober 31, 201 3 at 9:13 pm

In this situa tion, wha t should you be doing? (150 Words)

I am on a personal v isit to my v illage w here one of my childhood friend has come to greet me. My gr andmother r eaction is

totally una cceptable wheth er it is out of her ignorance of law or not. She and rest of the villa gers hav e been v iolating the law by

practicing untouchability .

First of all, I will apologize to my friend personally for my grandmother behavior. I will confront my grandmother and tell her

about the consequences of such behav ior. I will al so inform her th at being a public official, i cannot ignore such illegal act s and

ignoring her behav ior will jeopardize my job as well. Sh e is too old to be conv inced about the r ationale behind th e law or

inhu ma n behav ior she has been involv ed since yea rs. She might not repeat such behav ior only out of fear of consequences.

Despite the law in place for long, Untouchability is still pretty much in practice in my v illage. I will meet the v illage elders and

tell them about t he illegal activ ities, they are participating in. I will highlight the prevalent unt ouchability to concerned

aut horities in my district. In case my friend feels so offended that h e report this incident to police/concerned authorities then

law w ill take it course.

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Adeeb PathanOctober 31, 201 3 at 1 0:04 pm

It is necessary to understand the circumstances of the criminal before taking any action in this case. The grandma is 85 years

old and has less exposure to education or developments in th e world. The ru ral society she liv es in has reinforced her belief

system.Hence, though it is impru dent to proceed with any legal act ion against her, t he officer mu st insist tha t his friend belonging to

the backw ard caste stay with him in side the house and even perh aps shar e a mea l with h im. He should also apologize to his

friend on behalf of his grandma a nd assure him tha t he would use his new position as an IAS officer to elimina te unt ouchability .

This would also set an exam ple for the fellow v illagers to integrat e their society .

The IAS officer should explain the lega l and contemporary situation to his grandma and persuade her to accept his choices. AS

St. Augustine aptly puts it, “Love the sinner but hate t he sin “.

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Aditya JhaOctober 31, 201 3 at 1 0:53 pm

Adeeb,

Your an swer is well justifi ed.

However, t he SC recently ruled tha t breaking l aws on the pretext of non-awa reness would be counted as a breach of law. One

can n ot be excused for s/he doesn’t kn ow the la w.

Furth er, St. Augu stine’s words are no more val id today . They had a context. Now tha t the society is based on laws and rules,

I am sorry to say , we can not love the sinner. We have t o hate both.

But, y ou hav e your own perspective and I respect th at.

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Adeeb PathanNovember 1, 2013 at 12:40 am

Adit y a,

I totally agree with you w hen y ou say that ignorance is never an excuse for non compliance in any court of law. I agree

that the grandmother is a criminal in this case. I am just proposing that we do not hand her over to the law or request th

local police authorities to register an FIR against h er ( in v iew of the special circum stances) . Of course, this course of

action is debatable an d an extrem ely u pright person would desist from such act ion. I just wan ted to give a pract ical

answer. Th e last sentence was added just to justify m y course of action and giv e my answer a sense of completion. It

might make it seem like I am una ware of the contemporary realities but one gets hardly 1 0 minut es to complete a 1 50

wor d an swer . Cou ldn ’t go th rough al l the pros and con s. But y our object ion is w ell rec eiv ed .

Thankx !!

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Aditya JhaNovember 1, 2013 at 1 0:17 am

Sure Adeeb.

But, y our course of action also finds a place in the l egal sy stem. It provides for th e desired flexibility when dealing

wi th th e weak an d old. For, th e la w a pplies to ev ery one, but not equa lly . Ev en i f y ou g o and reg ister a c ompl ai nt , she

wou ld n ot be sen ten ced, only fin ed m ini mal ly .

I understan d your concerns.

Thanks.

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Prasoon Kaushik October 31 , 2013 at 1 1:29 pm

Adeeb ! y ou w rote a won derful an swer . Proposing idea s wh ich ar e differ ent from commonly perc eiv ed answ ers r equir es a w e

evolved thought faculty.

I will meanwhile share St.Augustine. He say s,”an unjust law is no law a t all.”

Al l t he best

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Adeeb PathanNovember 1, 2013 at 12:45 am

Prasoon,

Than kx a l ot ! Much n eeded encouragem ent before mains ! Wonderful case studies. Div erse and thought compelling. If

and wh en I become successful in my efforts, I will owe it partly to you !!

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Prasoon Kaushik October 31 , 2013 at 11 :19 pm

Idealism is better pract iced than professed and public service cal ls for hig hest sacrifices ev en if personal. A s a civ il serva nt in

India, th e responsibility of interpreta tion and commissioning of rules and regula tions are diversely dema nding.

In the particular case my action shall necessarily justify that personal concerns of any magnitude are a lway s outweighed by t h

law s of the land. I‘ll apologize to my fr iend in public and I‘ll ask my gra ndmother to extend him her apologies. I will next ma ke

her known to my duties. Then after I‘ll proceed with putting a formal complaint against my grandmother.

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Venu KesamNovember 1, 2013 at 3:02 am

First I will m ake an a pology to my childhood friend for the beha v ior of my beloved grandm other wh o is at an age of 85.

Untouchability is a social evil an d is there for centur ies in our society . Despite hav ing strong penal provisions in law ,unt ouchability still being observed, in this remotest villa ge, signifies tha t att itudes of the people didn’t chang e with th e time.

Being an IAS officer and given t he fact th at la rge nu mber of people v isiting me, would definitely pla ce me in a respectable

position to assert the im porta nce of fundam ental h um an v alues like equality and freedom in upholding hum an dignity . I will

ma ke use of exam ples from the life of Gandhi wh o worked for th e prevent ion of untoucha bility .

Through discussions, along with the need for recognizing the human values I will remind my grandmother, rather strongly,

and the people visiting me about the strict penal provisions that are there in PCRA 1955 and PoAA 1989 with respect to

untouchability.

I will ask th e District Magistra te and SP to conduct awar eness cam paigns in and around our v illages regarding t he PCRA 1 955

and PoAA 1 989 where untouchability is practiced.

- Somebody please rat e this -

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AaruNovember 1, 2013 at 1 1:59 am

As a civ il ser v an t, it w ould be m y prer ogat iv e to el im ina te t hi s kin d of dast ar dly ac ts st ill bein g pr ac ti ced. I would expla in t o my

gran dmother th e crime she has commit ted albeit in a soothing way after al l she is not awar e of the law and its repercussions.

I would mak e sure that she apologises to my friend and then i would proceed to lodge a complaint aga inst her. She m ay be my

gran dmother but before justice ev ery body is equal.

One should clean t he m uck at home before going to do it outside. It would show to the v illagers th at no one is abov e law a nd

wou ld en cour ag e th e oppressed t o compl ai nt ag ain st t he p erpetr at ors and a lso would disc our ag e th e so cal led u pper castes fr om

bein g in consider at e to their fell ow h um an bein gs.

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AaruNovember 1, 2013 at 12 :01 pm

This is my 1st answer to a case study.

An y body plea se feel free to com ment upon my short coming s.

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Prasad

November 1, 2013 at 12 :23 pm

I am happy tha t th is happened at m y h ouse first. As a friend first I shall a pologise such conduct of my family mem bers. I shall le

my gran dmother know about the laws perta ining to such behav iour, And as a public serv ant, shall u tilise the occasion to

conv ey a positive messsage in such an augu st gathering.

We n eed to hig hl igh t t he i mportan ce of sy mbols of dem ocra cy “Libert y Equal ity & Fra ter nit y ” a dopted 6 2+ y rs a go, bu t m ak e

them awa re tha t how tra ditional beliefs hav e conditioned our society …Gandhi also had a cha nge in v iews on caste in the three

decades with influence from different tjinkers like Ambedkar etc… I’d giv e grandm a a benefit of doubt that she was unaw are of

the strict rules for such conduct, but n ot hesitate to inform her of consequences if such a ction repeats.

Al l of thi s ha s to be done in a v ery infor mal ma nn er but wi th hu mor w hen nec essar y , bec au se it is a h appy momen t t o cher ish.

Please review m y answers.

regards

Prasad

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neerajNovember 10, 2013 a t 6:11 pm

This is a situation wh ere i mu st hav e a bala nce between personal a nd professional relat ionship. On one hand, a s an IAS officer I

hav e to uphold the law and on the other hand is my octogenarian gr andmother in whose mind untouchability is firmly

entrenched.

Of course she has violated the la w. But h ere the situat ion dema nds an instant solution to placate both. Firstly , I would ask my

gran dmother politely not to be rude to guest, as we in India hav e a policy of “Atith i Devo Bhav a”. Also, I would firmly tell her

not to act in such a r ash way with an yone. As, she is very old and v alues and habits are v ery hard to change at th is stage, its no

a good thing to argue w ith her on this issue at the m oment. Also, since I am u nder her roof, i I would hav e to take care of her

feelings.

I would aoplogise to my friend on her beha lf and leav e the house with m y fr iend and talk to him a s a friend. I hope he will forgiv

my grandma.

Aft er r etu rn ing back, I would ta lk t o my gr an dma a bout th e in ciden t a nd t ell her t ha t sh e ca n be ar rest ed as it i s illega l t o

practice untouchability in a ny way . Also, I would try to get her to change her thinking.

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Anu rag Th aku rNovember 12, 201 3 at 2:42 pm

In my opinion, a legal act ion for v iolation of the fundam ental r ights is necessary . For a m oment, ev en if my friend doesnt file a













complaint, m ay be a different person from the same commu nity who witnessed this incident may do it, FR are justiciable.

Furth er, if I try to do the mediation job in informa l way , not only it tru mps my ethical conduct but a lso puts a question ma rk on

my accountabilit y towards the depressed classes, whom righ ts I should protect just like a ny other citizen’s. It is a well kn own fac

tha t in our country , govt. or govt. serv ices are still considered to be feudal in natu re and ma y be its you wh o has been appointed

on the job, but ev en y our distant relat ives would act as if they were Collectors (on a funny note). Any indifferent response

towards such incident will further reinforce their stand on advocating such practises, because as an administrative officer (law

enforcing agent) m y silence towar ds act of breach of law is considered to be my affirma tion. It ha s to be a clear YES or NO. On a

more optimistic note, may be my responsible action towards my own relatives in an ev ent of unlawful activ ity would act as a

deterrent a nd a lesson to others wh o too adhere t o simila r beliefs.

Grandma or wh at, lets be candid, we ar e much ahead of the times which persisted before 1947 , and we h av e to act like being in

one if we desire to progress as a society . Mahat ma Gandhi r ighty pointed out at the pract ise of untoucha bility as the disease of

society . Its too cliched but it does hold tru e and as a public a dministrat or, we need to hav e firm belief in such principles. As far a

dear gran dma is concerned, I would quote a line of a v ery senior civ il serv ant , Mr. Rajendra Bhan awa t, from his article titled ”

Ethics in Gov ernance “ , tha t one has to sacrifice a lot of personal int erests ( to serv e with dignit y and integrit y ).

Its a risky step, I ma y g et ousted from m y own comm unity /family , but then w hat is the point of being attach ed to someth ing

diseased.

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Ethics Case Study – 24 _ INSIGHTS

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