MANY worthwhile advisors of erstwhile caretaker governments are almost forgotten, but one of them refuses to go away like a fly in the trashcan. A former justice of the High Court, who adorned the caretaker cabinet for 74 days, allegedly took bribes while in office, totaling a sum of Tk.1.25 crore. A brain-teaser for those who are interested. Going at this rate, how much money would he have made if he were to serve in a regular cabinet lasting five years, each year comprised of 365 days?
The same justice has been in the news again, this time not for taking money but for paying others to get him off the hook. This legal mind paid Tk.30 lakh to three men on the assurance that they were going to help him evade graft charges filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission. Luck ran out on him one again, and his latest mischief got exposed. The man was still digging when he was chin-deep in a hole!
Let us forget him for a moment. Let us talk about a nameless, faceless, swaggering man who barked at reporters in front of television cameras because they failed to show him respect. Let us talk about a man who didn't have enough self-respect to resign even after nine advisors including the chief advisor had resigned from the caretaker government.
And he made the bizarre look impossible when he went around introducing himself as an advisor after a new advisory council had taken over and he wasn't included.
Which brings us to yet another puzzle: How long does it take an anthropoid to climb up a greasy pole? It's not easy to be successful in life. It's not everyday that someone becomes a High Court justice. It's not that every justice gets to sit in a caretaker government.
But this one man made it up each and every rung of the ladder. He climbed up to the top compared to many in his class, family, neighbourhood, and country. This man must have been a pride of his house, to the family, amongst colleagues, and then in a wider circle in the national context. He got recognised, nominated, confirmed, and appointed. Those of us who have tried to build a career know it. The greasy pole isn't an easy process.
How did our justice get to the top? If he has shown indiscretion at the end of that process, was that process fraught with more indiscretions? Did he always take bribes in the course of his career? If we believe that practice makes a man perfect, may be he was still lacking in the art of corruption. Other way around, may be he was overconfident. He had done it so many times that he thought he could afford to be careless.
If we punish him, and punish him we must if the charges are proven, it will deal with the man who had stepped out of line, who betrayed us by usurping the trust reposed in him to keep. Then we need to know how it happened. Then we need to scrutinise the process, the character and resolve of those who go through it and those who should watch that process every step of the way.
Because, it's the same process which has produced an ambassador of the country who is not only said to have misappropriated government funds, but is also accused of tampering with his academic certificate. It's the same process, which increasingly allows people to go to the top by stooping low, creating opportunities so that petty men can rise to prominent jobs. Something isn't right about the whole thing. It competently fosters incompetence.
Yet, the case of this one justice isn't straight and simple. Here is a man who runs a welfare foundation after his name. He gives the impression of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type of interface, or even better a Robin Hood who rips the rich to help the poor. This is just a conjecture though.
We know nothing about the activities of the foundation. We don't know if the bribes he took ended up building a house, school or hospital for the destitute. The man is as complicated as his methods.
More surprising than what he did is the fact the he was allowed to do it. He rose through layers, taking office after office until he got to where he ended. It's the same story with a certain former ambassador who had served out his time and then won a very rewarding extension. All that time nobody thought he could have a doctored certificate or a propensity to show the sleight of hand when it comes to handling money!
How it happens we all know. It's foremost a matter of luck, that routine thing about being in the right place at the right time. Then it also needs a little magic touch, that electrifying thing called connection. You need friends and relatives in high places, party loyalty, palm greasing, and all sorts of people pleasing. Success, at times, can be more promiscuous than prostitution.
History is witness that some are more favoured than others. Something like this had transpired between Roman emperor Caligula Caesar and Incinatus. The emperor was fond of Incinatus, who was appointed consul and priest, even ordained as a "combination of all Gods" who should be worshipped. The emperor even procured him a wife and regularly invited him to dinner. Never mind who Incinatus was, that he was not a human being but a horse.
There are those amongst us who are favoured by people and favoured by luck. It depends on birth, association, environment and personal contacts. The justice, the ambassador, and many others like them take advantage of one or the other. But the world has been rocked by many upheavals so that man will not be judged by any standard other than his own worth.
That is the stepping stone to democracy, if we are looking for one.

Mohammad Badrul Ahsan is a columnist for The Daily Star.