A far worse fate than being dropped from the cabinet or even being charge-sheeted and prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act awaits disgraced Railway Minister Pawan Bansal: he has been ordered to book Tatkal tickets on the the dreaded IRCTC server between 10AM and 11AM for the next 2 months as means of atonement for his various sins of commission and omission (commission, mostly).
The ghoulish verdict was delivered in a Kangaroo court style setting in 10, Janpath presided over by Smt Sonia Gandhi as the judge, jury and executioner. “You have strived to derive pecuniary gain through unwholesome means from the Railways. Now be prepared to derive torture from it,” she concluded in a stentorian tone to shrieks of “Madam, mercy” by Bansal, who turned pale with fear and slumped to the ground. Even the witnesses to the macabre sentencing were shocked with a trembling Dr. Manmohan Singh muttering ‘theek hai?’ in a vain attempt to bring solace to the condemned man while P Chidambaram crossed himself and looking skyward, supplicated the Lord with the chant: ‘Father, forgive him’. What makes the punishment even harsher is that the poor man will have to carry out his task during peak summer months when demand for tickets is at its peak. “It’s like hanging a man twice over, barbaric,” opined a former Justice, Atlas Kabir. “It is divine retribution,” opined another eminent jurist, “for those who live by the sword are condemned to die by it.”
The harsh sentence has sent shock waves across not just mature Western democracies but even Taliban territory where medieval style tribal justice is the norm. “They could have amputated his arm or stoned him but this is just way too harsh, man,” remarked Taliban supreme commander, Mullah Akhund, who has offered asylum to the Railway Minister in case he is planning to abscond and evade the harsh fate that awaits him.
10, Janpath’s move has taken the wind out of the sails of the Opposition baying for Bansal’s blood. “We just wanted him to be sacked with prosecution being a distant pipedream but boy, this is way over the top. Now we will disrupt Parliament demanding his pardon,” Sushma Swaraj, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, confided to The Unreal Times.
While some political analysts contend that the punitive measure may have a strong deterrence effect, discouraging other ministers to go easy and indulge only in petty scams like pilfering stationery from their offices, some others contend that it is a Machiavellian move designed to reap political dividends. “With such a harsh punishment, they have made a martyr out of Bansal that will trigger a sympathy wave and help him retain his Lok Sabha seat from Chandigarh with a landslide win come 2014,” opined political analyst, Rajniti Sarkarwala, shaking his head in sadness.