Dr Subbarao's book of revelations

In 1974, a bright young assistant collector from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) did something that, by his own admission, was not straightforward.

- A K BHATTACHARYA

He had topped the 1972 batch of IAS candidates and reckoned that to enjoy the powers of a magistrate as part of his career advancement, he would need to preside over at least a dozen disputes that go through the process of arguments and are not mutually settled leading to their withdrawal, also known as "contested disputes".

What worried him was that as his training period as an assistant collector was about to end, there were only ten such cases to his credit. He was desperate to preside over two more. A case with two men involved in a street brawl appeared to offer an opportunity. In the normal course, this would have been settled mutually. But then, the case would not count as one of the "contested" cases he needed for career progression.

So he struck a deal with the lawyers in which they would argue the case, at the end of which the presiding officer would let off both men on the premise that no offence had been committed. It appeared to be a workable deal until conscience struck the young IAS officer.

Breaking the understanding he had reached with the lawyers, he issued an order sentencing the accused to one month's jail each. All hell broke loose.

The matter was referred to his immediate boss, who ordered the officer to take that judgement off the record and rewrite it suitably. That episode offered a lesson on the limitations of his knowledge and powers as an IAS officer.