Politicians are allowed any crimes, says Supreme Court.

Seems that the Meteorological office had been issuing warnings of severe rains in Uttarakhand on June 14, 15 and 16 but were ignored by the state government. TOI, 1 July. An advisory on 15 June specifically predicted " heavy to very heavy rains " for 16 and 17 June and even issued a clear warning to pilgrims going to Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Jamunotri, known as the Char Dham Yatra. " Warning: Char Dham yatris are advised to postpone yatra by four days," said the warning. Cannot be any clearer than that can it? They also included Joshimath in their advisory. Predictably politicians and civil servants in Uttarakhand have dismissed any suggestion of responsibility in the death of thousands people due to the horrific flooding that followed. Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand, Subhash Kumar said," I have been observing this since the last 10-15 years. They always claim that it will rain heavily....Our warnings cannot be so specific. Heavy to very heavy rains coupled with land slides in places is not enough to suggest there is going to be a crisis of this magnitude." A few dozen people dying her or there is of no importance and no reason to cancel the yatra. Reminds us of the film, Jaws in which the town mayor refuses to close the beach to tourists because local businesses would suffer. The US is 3 times the size of India with just 300 million people so human beings are precious whereas we have 1200 million people crammed into a small country, breeding like rats. So, who cares. It gives VVIPs the chance to take a helicopter ride to see the devastating beauty of the Ganga as she cascades down from the Himalayas. But, callous as it may seem, this was not the real crime. The real crime has been committed over many years when people have been allowed to build houses on dry river beds, shady hotels have been built precariously close to the river and criminal gangs dug out vast quantities of sand and rocks illegally, to be used in the construction boom that followed the creation of Uttarakhand. No doubt vast amounts of money was earned in bribes which explains the rise in property prices and the construction boom in the state. So, will any politician take responsibility for the disaster and resign. No. Because politicians are allowed to commit any crime and continue to enjoy a life of debauch at taxpayer expense. Who says so? The Honorable Supreme court, no less. A person facing murder trial can contest elections, become an MP and even a minister in the Union government, but pendency of a criminal case will not entitle him to a job in the lowest rung of the police force. TOI 5 July. A double Patiala peg all round. Cheers.