Y P Singh : A Born Fighter

Yesterday, I had an occasion to meet and listen to Y.P. Singh at Indo American Society, the man who fought with system while staying in it. An IPS officer of 1981 batch , he was a fighter from the beginning , during his stint, he dealt with high-profile cases like the  US-64 scam and the Panna-Mukta oilfield  deal. But he was  at odds with the powers-that-be all the time because his investigations uncovered uncomfortable facts, which he was not willing to conceal, at any cost.

To prevent him from disturbing the status quo, he was shunted to insignificant postings while his contemporaries received accolades, medals and promotions.

In his resignation letter to the secretary, Union ministry of home affairs, Singh said, 'Despite being one of the most outstanding officers of the country, I exist, debilitated and belittled, like a living corpse.'

US-64 scam became public in 2001, about 2 crore people, mostly middle-class Indians, lost money. It did not happen in a day but was the result of ten years of mismanagement but the  mismanagement peaked around 1994-1995 under S S,Dave, Chairman,  UTI repeatedly made dubious investments, including some in contravention of rules and regulations.It was openly investing in securities banned by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), saying UTI was not governed by SEBI rules. They were investing in lock-in shares and debentures of companies.  Singh says that If questions had been raised about these issues in 1991, probably we would not have face the US-64 scam.

 Singh also worked on Panna-Mukta oilfields case, it was he Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) who discovered the oilfield. It was literally screaming in despair when it was told by the government to share it with private companies. ONGC officials were unhappy as it had huge potential. Their argument was that if the government wants to give away something, let it give an undiscovered oilfield. There has been no calculation of National loss. The entire oilfield was almost given free of cost - ONGC retained 40% ownership while Reliance and Enron shared the rest. This area produces around 4 to 5 million tons per annum while India's oil consumption is around 110 million tons. The government gave such an oilfield virtually free to private companies. The CBI was very angry with him for investigating the deal. They tried to hush up the case. Its officials cut Singh's  phone, withdrew his car, his assistants, deputed men to get his house vacated. The Supreme Court passed strictures against the CBI officers. But no action was taken against them.

He also opposed the merger of the Global Trust Bank with the Oriental Bank of Commerce. The merger protected the interests of the depositors, but not the shareholders. The equity was wiped off. Besides this, there were certain violations of the law for which nobody has been held accountable. The Reserve Bank of India was responsible for this  . The problem was in the offing for the last three or four years. Even towards the end, the RBI put out a press note saying that GTB was in a very good condition. When the RBI knew the bank was in bad shape, then the question is why  it  issued a press note misguiding the people.

He has also written two books and made a movie. In his book Carnage by Angels, Singh has portrayed an officer getting his lessons in corruption from a constable.  Those who want to learn these things do so by any means. Many people pick up the ropes during training at the police academy itself. When they are later posted to various districts, they begin interacting with people. Some citizen may come and say, 'Arre sahab, hum to policewalon ke mitr hain' (Sir, I am your well-wisher). Then he will start giving you ideas. At that time, people come to know who is corrupt. Corrupt officers find a link to bribe-givers. The link-man collects the bribes on their behalf. A junior officer - generally of the rank of sub-inspector -acts as the link. In a month or two, new officers become well-versed with the system. You don't need a lot of expertise to learn these things. There are a limited number of officers in a state. So, if an officer does something in one district, everyone in the state comes to know what kind of a person he is. Wherever he is transferred, agents and corrupt policemen approach him. He will enter into an unholy nexus with them. Corruption is institutionalized. The bribe amount is fixed on the earning potential.

When asked how much does he himself identify with Raghu, the protagonist of your novel Carnage of Angels?

He says that it is more of assimilation. a novel close to reality.

In the book, Raghu joins the force as a sub-divisional police officer. He goes to present his credentials to the superintendent of police of Kolhapur but is made to wait for two hours. Later the SP screams at him for not saluting properly. Asked does that incident have any basis in reality?

He says ‘This generally happens. The trick is - lame them and tame them. Seniors rag junior officers till he is intimidated and looks up to them for approval. Then, he can be managed.’

Singh after fighting with corruption as insider, now turned activist, advise oppressed people, take up their cases, his wife Rashmi is also with him in the cause.

Singh is grim and pessimist about the state of affair in the country and see little hope even after change of government. He feels that the corruption is institutionalized so it is very difficult for an honest man to survive in the system. He gives example of two people in the same business the one who his honest, procuring everything ethically, paying all taxes and other charges  so naturally his cost of production must be much higher to the person who do not pay taxes honestly,  so whose product will sustain in the market.

Asked  whether Singham Returns  style can clean up the system. Singh says that Singham movie should be seen as a pure entertainment not beyond that. System can not be cleaned with Singham formula. 

However his advice to the activists and oppressed is simple, do not tolerate corruption, make all hue and cry, use all the available forums. He also suggest to  use Anti Corruption Department’s services, create and record evidences against corrupt official, lure him and his collection agents to accept bribe and this trap will nail the culprit.