The chief justice has very rightly spoken of rejection or even social isolation of the corrupt which will strengthen the anti-corruption campaign. It is a positive development that there is a growing public antipathy towards corruption as is evident from the way the present anti-corruption drive has been welcomed by the people at large. There is nothing wrong with the corpus of law but often this has been misapplied to suit political or partisan expediency in the past.

Now, something more has to be done beyond dealing with the individual cases or bringing the culprits to justice to contain corruption on a durable basis. For example it has to be recognised that the degree and nature of corruption varies widely in the government offices. We, unfortunately, have watched corruption at the highest level which could only be termed a systematic looting of national resources. The corrupt holding high public offices were devoid of any moral values and showed an inexplicable disregard for the law as well. In short, the corruption culture built over the years neutralised the law to a great extent. It is this culture of free-for-all plundering that has to be brought to an end in the interest of our survival as a civilised nation.

Down the ladder, we will find corruption among the low-paid government employees which points to the typical problem of survival with the pittance offered as salary. It is indeed a laudable initiative that the government is planning to increase the compensation package of the police. Obviously, they have to be given a bare minimum before corruption could be eliminated from the law enforcing system.

A sustained campaign against corruption both on the social and legal fronts will ultimately create a situation where it will be viewed as an unpardonable offence looked down upon in society. Ethics and morality will help us attain that goal but it is necessary to create socio-economic conditions that resist corruption.