A Delhi court has charged a government engineer with negligence because he allowed mosquitoes to breed in a south Delhi court complex. Five judges contracted dengue. The engineer contested the decision saying that as a civil servant he could not be prosecuted without permission from his department. Additional Sessions Judge, Virender Bhatt said, " The negligence shown by a public servant is an anti-thesis to the carefulness and diligence with which he is expected to discharge his official functions" ( Hindustan Times, March 20 ). We feel sorry for the engineer. It was his bad luck that judges came down with dengue. Had a million ordinary citizens been infected with the deadly virus instead he would be safe. Children die regularly by falling into manholes left uncovered. Motorists die in accidents because roads have been dug up and left without any warning signs. People are electrocuted when badly connected power lines fall down. Everyday thousands of people all over India are dying because of negligence of thieving, parasitic civil servants but we are helpless. A civil servant is immune from prosecution no matter how lethal the consequences of his callous negligence. Thousands of people die everyday in traffic accidents. Freeloading press immediately clamor for tougher punishments for speeding motorists and politicians are happy to oblige. Higher fines mean more revenues and more earning from bribes for the police. The truth is that no one in India knows how to drive because everyone has obtained licenses with bribes. Who is in charge of licensing? The police, of course. When the state is the enemy people will die.