Keeping politicians at bay

Under the above caption Pinky Anand, a senior Advocate writes as follows: The bureaucracy can never be immune to political interference as long as bureaucrats are willing to twist and bend before politicians to get the postings of their choice. The Supreme Court has replaced the increasingly erratic and unresponsive executive power with the role of the judiciary. If civil servants begin to believe that even years after retiring they can be criminally prosecuted for a mistake made in good faith or for a bonafide decision taken on the basis of the data that was available, there will be serious repercussions on the morale of the serving officers. The three to five years of security of tenure in key assignments enjoyed by conferred IAS officers is absolute - an almost sure-shot recipe for dishonesty and lack of integrity. The danger of a country that is ruled by the judiciary is bested only by that which is ruled by the bureaucracy - voters cannot end their tenure in office every five years! (Hindu November 26, 2013) I fully agree with his observations. ++++++++++++++++++++