Bengaluru, March 31, 2018: Even with the deity of the Tirupati temple as prime minister, India cannot develop unless its central and state governments enforce law and order, ex-Karnataka DGP Shankar Bidari said Saturday.
At India Today's Karnataka Panchayat 2018, Bidari joined Home Guard IGP D Roopa and Global Concerns India director Brinda Adige for a chat about the state of law enforcement in the southern state, which elects a new assembly in May.
Bidari lamented what he called a "collapsed" Indian criminal justice system, and appealed to the "powers that be, regardless of the party" to protect the innocent and bring the guilty to book without fear or favour.
"Unfortunately during the last few decades, all the governments are harping on development, development, development. When hundreds of thousands of crores are being siphoned off from (the) public exchequer, and the culprits are going unpunished, when hundreds of thousands of crores are being misappropriated, misapplied, and daylight looting of the treasury is taking place all over the country, there is no punishment for anybody," he observed.
"Unless and until you arrange for the enforement of the law, without fear and favour, unless and until you ensure that the culprits are punished within a reasonable period of two years, unless and until you ensure that the righteous persons are given protection, no development can take place in this country."
Bidari's message came shortly after he mentioned the high number of police commissioners Bengaluru has had in the last five years, and the recent acquittal of the accused in the Mangaluru pub attack case.