This led to commercialisation of the worst type. Officers not really in need of accommodation bought the flats because of the throwaway prices. On Worli Seaface a flat purchased for Rs 3.15 lakh in 1985 was sold by a retired DGP of the state to the son of a retired police commissioner for Rs 3.15 crore! One wonders whether the government should permit such mercenary transactions without extracting its pound of flesh. After all, the land and the money belong to the people.

Further the government needs to talk to its IAS and IPS officers and enforce all the rules and regulations which are now being openly flouted. Officers were not permitted to use government vehicles for private purpose and in the past their wives and children never used government cars. But now vehicles are placed exclusively at the disposal of senior ladies. Every officer was permitted two policemen as house orderlies but many have four or more at the cost of the tax payers and keep them after retirement or when they are on deputation which is not permissible. When government permits such infractions because they are considered minor, defiance of authority and rules becomes the norm and leads to indiscipline, which is infectious and travels down the line.

My advice to Pasricha is that in the interest of the police service he should step down even if the inquiry exonerates him from corruption charges. The damage to the service should be his main concern. And finally, why does the government not place all property returns filed every year by IAS and IPS officers on a website so that anyone who wishes to challenge the facts can do so? Good governance demands transparency, particularly from its senior officials.