Daijiworld Media Network

Yadgiri (Karnataka), Apr 24 : 'Aane Kaddaru Kalla, Adike Kaddaru Kalla' (a thief is a thief, whether he steals elephant or arecanut), so goes a Kannada saying. And nothing proves this better than our law. They say everybody is equal before the law, but the hitch is, while 'Aane Kalla' escapes easily and even manages to rule in politics, the poor 'Adike Kalla' is made a mincemeat of with rigourous punishment!

Lingappa Maggad, a gram panchayath secretary from Yadgiri district's Surapura taluk was caught by the Lokayukta police on June 17, 2008 while accepting a bribe of Rs 600 from a citizen who was applying for a house under the 'Ashraya' government scheme 'Ashraya". Caught red-handed, he was arrested immediately by the Lokayukta police.

His punishment - 12 years in jail and Rs 50,000 fine! And if he fails to pay the amount, then he has to spend two more years behind the bars.

The sentence was awarded by the district judge Sanjiv Kumar.

If all bribery and corruption cases were to be dealt with so stringently, one can only imagine how many government officials and politicians might have been in jail by now. If 600 rupees can attract a sentence of 12 years and Rs 50,000 fine, what would be case where thousands of crores are involved?

Can we really then say the law is equal for all?

Now that's a million dollar question!