The Unseen Conspiracy: How 'VIP Culture' Endorses the Collapse of Rule of Law in Bihar

The Two Laws of Bihar: Official Privilege vs. Public Penalty

In a democracy, the Rule of Law is the oxygen of equality. It means the law is supreme, and it applies equally to everyone. Yet, in Bihar, a stark, two-tier system of justice operates in plain sight. On our roads, in our government offices, and in the very fabric of administration, a subtle but devastating message is broadcast daily: The Law is for the common citizen, but not for the privileged official.

This isn't mere corruption; it's a profound, systemic administrative failure that elevates a culture of 'class impunity' and actively undermines the foundations of democracy. The open, unpunished use of official designations on private vehicles is just the most visible symptom of this deep illness.

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The Constitutional Contradiction: Endorsing Impunity

When a public servant, whose solemn duty is to uphold the law, openly breaks the law by illegally displaying an official designation on a private vehicle, and the police and transport departments systematically fail to issue a single challan, what is the administrative policy at play?

The answer is chilling: The State apparatus is, by its deliberate inaction, issuing a blanket administrative endorsement of impunity. This practice directly violates Article 14 of the Constitution of India—the right to Equality Before Law. By allowing an elite class of officials to flaunt their status and disregard the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the State fundamentally contradicts the very principle that its power derives from the people and the law.

The judiciary has taken note: The High Court has issued administrative orders against such practices, viewing the rampant non-compliance as a general administrative contempt for judicial directives aimed at curbing VIP culture. When an administrative order or judicial mandate is simply ignored at the executive level, the democratic checks and balances are rendered meaningless.

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The Planned Sabotage of Accountability Acts

The crisis is amplified by a deeper conspiracy of silence and record-keeping failure. To ensure that this culture of impunity is never exposed, key accountability mechanisms are being systematically sabotaged:

1. Sabotaging Public Records: Enforcement against officials requires maintaining detailed records (challans, fines, seizure logs). Yet, the complete failure to maintain these logs constitutes a gross violation of crucial transparency legislation like the Bihar Public Records Act, 2014. How can the public demand accountability when the records of law-breaking—and the lack of enforcement—are deliberately allowed to vanish?
2. Sabotaging Transparency Tools: Simple, effective tools designed for public accountability are being actively ignored. Consider the FAST Tag system. For vehicles that receive fee exemptions, a verifiable digital log of their movement is mandated. If implemented correctly, this immutable log would provide objective evidence to track the movement of officials, identify misuse of resources, and enable disciplinary action for dereliction of duty. The institutional indifference to implementing such a simple digital audit tool is evidence of a design to shield officers from public scrutiny.

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The Vicious Cycle: Training Citizens to Break the Law

The most insidious consequence is the impact on the ordinary citizen.

When the Head of Administration—the official designated to enforce the law—breaks the law with impunity, it sends a powerful, destructive signal:

• It undermines trust: Citizens see the State functioning not as a protector of the law, but as a protector of a privileged class against the law.
• It normalizes lawlessness: The non-enforcement against the elite acts as a practical lesson: the only way to get ahead, or even be safe from petty harassment, is to flout the rules or acquire status markers that grant immunity.

This systemic administrative culture essentially lures the Bihari citizen into becoming a law-breaker, not out of malice, but out of a cynical understanding that the official system requires the bending of rules to function. The Rule of Law doesn't just collapse; it is actively, systematically dismantled by the very people sworn to protect it.

For democracy to thrive, the law must be the same for all. Until the highest echelons of State administration are held accountable for their deliberate administrative negligence and the systemic sabotage of records and transparency, this two-tier justice system will continue to poison our society. We must demand immediate, demonstrable enforcement and an end to this culture of planned impunity.