My Dear CTC family members,

Normally, one would have refrained from writing anything about corruption in our country. For one - let us be frank - we have lost hope. The refrain comes from despair and helplessness; though the frustration boils the blood from within. The second reason is the expected reaction of being regarded as either cynical/pseudo intellect or as having too "Gandhian" (read: illusory or impractical) attitude. In any case, in the era where even serious news contents have succumbed to the pressure of becoming "juicy" and "interesting", a talk or a write up on corruption seems to be hopelessly out of the date and a clichéd theme.

However, two developments have prompted me to take the risk of taking up this issue again, at least for a write up, for whatever worth it is. Interestingly, these two developments are totally opposite. One is revival of some hope and the other so much of shame that it should shake every one out of the complacent and ostrich type attitude.

The shameful development first. According to Bribe Payer’s Index (BPI) 2006, our great country, the country having one of the most rich and ancient culture & tradition, the country having millions of god-fearing citizens, has achieved an unenviable fete of becoming number one in the world in exporting bribe. Earlier, Transparency International ranked India as among the more corrupt societies in the world. The words of our beloved Late Shri Nani Palkhivala always echo in my mind - which I cannot help but repeat - to the effect that we, the Indians, have one of the highest tolerance rate in the world. We have come to acquire a unique quality of tolerating any amount of nonsense or injustice. However, this new number one world ranking should shock all right minded citizens to wake up from the deep slumber, reviving, at least, the debate on corruption and, hopefully, to gear up for controlling, if not eradicating, corruption. One should never undermine the all pervasive evil effect of the deep rooted menace called corruption on all spheres of life, not only on economic sphere. Corruption is very aptly compared with cancer. Outwardly, one hardly realises the extent of internal damage caused by the spread of cancer and by the time one realises the gravity of the situation, more often than not, it is too late. Corruption has the potential of leading to social unrest and total anarchy in a society.

The other development has come as a pleasant surprise. Totally unexpected, it is a Bollywood movie, that too, a very light movie, that seems to have caught fancy of one and all, including – surprise surprise - young citizens of this country. Whether the concept of "gandhigiri" is just a passing fad and a fashionable catchphrase – as it is feared – or it has really a potential of igniting the Gandhian spirit, only time will tell. However, the fact that it has caused some sparks here and there is enough to revive the debate on this single most cause of political, social and moral degradation in this country.

This makes me wonder whether the Chamber, singly or along with its sister organisations, has any role to play on these developments. Apart from others, isn’t this a time to seize the opportunity and revive the old debate on the role of professionals vis a vis corruption, including the time to introspect? Some years ago, the five sister organizations (that is, AIFTP, BCAS, CTC, STPAM & WIRC of ICAI) had formed a committee comprising of very highly respected and senior professionals to look into this aspect, including a code of conduct for their members. I think the time is ripe to revive that debate.

The less it is said about the ongoing utter chaos and confusion about the newly introduced e return, it is better. Hopefully, by the time this issue reaches your hands, the hardships would have been mitigated to a considerable extent, as is promised by the high ranking officers from the Finance Ministry and CBDT in their meeting. However, one cannot help but again feel bitter and sad about the way such very serious issues, which put thousands of assessees and tax professionals into lots of totally avoidable inconveniences and hardships, are handled. One really wonders why the things always have to be made unnecessarily complicated and difficult when such changes could very well have been made in a smooth and timely manner. I sincerely hope that you all meet the deadlines with as ease as possible.

Anyway, let us put aside all these negative feelings and experience & celebrate the positive spiritual vibrations emanating from the holy festivals of Deepawali and Id-ul-Fitre. I wish all our members a very happy and joyous Diwali and Id Mubarak!