Government needs to shed political glamour in dealing with fleeing economic offenders

Fugitive businessman Nirav Modi’s custody ends today and Officials of Indian agencies CBI and ED have reached London and handed over fresh evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to counter his another bail attempt.

New delhi : Fugitive businessman Nirav Modi’s custody ends today and there is a probability that he will make another attempt for bail. But to keep Nirav behind the bars Officials of Indian agencies CBI and ED have reached London and handed over fresh evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Nirav Modi’s arrest ahead of the Loksabha elections has quickly become a political issue. The government and its supporters have invoked the image of a vigilant Chowkidar; while the opposition accuses, “They are bringing him back for elections.” In all, everyone is focusing only on the political aspect of this arrest and the main issue of widening gap between the haves and have nots and cronyism is conveniently kept aside.

The key reason for BJP's victory in 2014 was the UPA government was buried under many corruption or cronyism controversieslike the 2G, 3G, CWG and so on. And the BJP had coined out an emotionalphrase/slogan for the elections, "NaKhaunga, Na Khane Dunga." This emotional appeal helped in gaining victory in the then elections. But the past five years the voters have experienced the fleeing of two big billionaires, liquor giant Vijay Mallya, andjewelry designer Nirav Modi. Now that both have been tracked down and booked, though abroad, there are hopes for the BJP in the upcoming elections.

Despite these arrests, the government or the administration is not ready to comment on the cronyism that has hollowed the system. Apart from this, the cronyism has also led to mistrust in the successive governments. Public trust is very crucial to the government. There have been accusations that the current government has descended into growing cronyism in every walk of the government. To elaborate on; the ever-increasing lynching issue, favouring only a few businesstycoons, favouring a specific group of bureaucrats etc. Is this not cronyism? People who endorsedgreater government power and spending must note that this greater power later translates into cronyism leading to preferentialtax regimes, preferential regulations etc.

This is not the first time that Modi has done something wrong. Previously in 2015 too customs agents had accused him of evading taxes by importing high value quality, duty free polished diamonds while using low value gems in jewellery made for export to HongKong and UAE. But he as a good actor settled the issue and made an impression of being a very cultured and sincere individual.

The rich in this country have a preferential access to everything while the substantial numbers of poor hardly have access to fundamental services like quality education, medical care, finance etc. The country has over 100 billioners and according to a report of an international agency their wealth increased by Rs. 4891 billion last year. The billioners wealth increased by almost 73 percent while 67 percent poor Indians wealth witnessed a growth of just one percent. Bank trade unions opine that these 67 percent of Indians depend on the banks to save and increase their wealth; while the rich take loans to establish bigger projects and later on turn wilful defaulters. Some of the wilful defaulters like Essar Steel, Essar Oil have been swapped out of businesses but still lot needs to be done.

Thus time is now ripe to think about the trust and cooperation that pertains to trust in government. Trust and cooperation is the social capital. Trust and social capital can be achieved if government has control over cronyism. Researchers have proved that greater trust and social capital are related to better economic outcomes in the society.

Cronyism produces nothing. In cronyism the resources are shifted to lobbying and influencing the government. Thus the resources are shifted to activities of no value producing distorted and slow moving economy.

Nirav Modi is a better example of cronyism. He is the second glitzy billionaire who mocked country’s legal system by running away before the law could get to him. He has always preferred a fanciful luxuries life that ridicules the lifestyle of the people whose money he has laundered. He is a coarse capitalist. Even after his passport was cancelled and revoked he travelled to countries gives us an idea about his attitude of committing crime and then fleeing from the scene. May be the UK court must have witnessed the same and cancelled his bail plea stating he is a “flight risk”.

Now the government wants to extradite him from Britain to face charges that he assembled an empire spanning from Mumbai to Macau with money obtained illicitly from the PSU banks. Will this extradition ever happen is the question that comes to a common man? As Vijay Mallaya the first billionaire who mocked the country’s legal system is out on bail in the UK and has appealed against the extradition order of Britain’s court.

This government need to sacrifice political glamour and act quickly and prove its emotional slogans of being efficient ‘Chowkidar’ else such coarse capitalists will keep on taking benefit of cronyism.