Institutions are weak, the state is super strong.

The scam in the Punjab National Bank, where two employees issued Letters of Credit to a jewellery firm to buy rough diamonds overseas and fake Letters of Undertaking to borrow money in dollars from other banks, is creating a lot of excitement in India. R Singhal asked, "How did a diamantaire take out so much money from the banking system, so easily, when ordinary customers are made to jump through several hoops or provide copious documentation for a simple transaction?" Whenever there is a scam citizens are forced to submit know-your-customer (KYC) documents, consisting of photo identity and address proof, despite having submitted them many times before. This unequal relation between the state and citizens extends to everything from paying taxes to utilities to credit history, where citizens are made to prove their innocence. "The tyranny of Aadhaar, unleashed by all financial sector participants, has magnified the state of wariness." The sudden demonetization of high value notes on 8 November 2016 turned 1.3 billion people into crooks, as we stood for hours in queues outside banks to access our own savings. This has been followed by tax terrorism as the government was unable to recover trillions of black money as it had promised. Faced with repression people turn to courts. There are 137,000 pending cases regarding direct taxes and 145,000 regarding indirect taxes, amounting to Rs 7.58 trillion or 4.7% of GDP.  Even the credibility of our elite institutions, the Election Commission, the Reserve Bank and the Supreme Court, is being eroded, wrote M Vaishnav. After questioning transparency of electoral bonds the Election Commission supported it. Anyone can donate money to a political party by buying bonds from banks. The name of the donor and the party will remain secret. But the government will know and can reward, or punish, depending on which party gained. No wonder the governing BJP got 89% of all corporate donations in 2016-17. The Reserve Bank should have openly opposed demonetization but kept quiet even as poor people suffered. In January, four senior judges of the Supreme Court questioned the impartiality of the Chief Justice in a press conference. However, the biggest problem with our courts is the unending delay in deciding cases. In December the Supreme Court apologized for a 13 year delay in deciding a case, the eventual winner having long expired. Undue delays help criminals to threaten witnesses, as in the Sohrabuddin case where 33 of 49 witnesses have turned 'hostile', which means retracted their testimonies. Criminals get away with heinous crimes on a regular basis. Accusing all citizens of being crooked allows criminals to rule us. Safety in numbers.