Organised crime is a malady afflicting affluent and developing societies. It is an anti-thesis of all ethical values in a liberal democracy. Its prominent manifestation is criminalisation of political processes. It raises its head with the disappearance of ethical behaviour in society and the emergence of the cult of Mammon.

Organised crime undermines the security and stability of the nation; cripples free economy by controlling competition through violence; manipulating inter-state and international commerce and trade; duping investing public etc. The vast illegal financial resources at its command enables it to run a parallel economy and overwhelm and control the levers of power. We have seen the hand of organised crime in the Bombay blasts. It is time that the people of India woke up to the danger from organised crime to our democracy and mobilised strong public opinion to force the authorities to take steps to eliminate the same.

Organised crime is the product of criminal conspiracy and organised activity of criminal elements to extract from society exorbitant financial gains through illegal means. In a society, existence of organised crime could be felt through the social acceptance of hoodlums as members of decent society; indifference and reluctance of political functionaries to deal with violence and lawlessness; business being taken over and controlled by dubious elements; deceptive handling of public funds; politicians-criminals nexus; presence of widespread and well organised gambling narcotics, prostitution, white-collar crime and financial frauds. These provide the finances for the organised crimes.

Politicians devoid of a record of public service, sacrifice and a mass following, need muscle and money power to retain their hold on power and to bludgeon their constituency into submission. Organised crime provides these in return for protection from any penal action by the police and bureaucracy. Politicians using their authority, force the police and bureaucracy also find that complying with the dictates of politicians is beneficial to their personal and career advancement. Thus, a three way alliance between organised crime, politicians and police and bureaucracy takes birth. To eliminate organised crime from society, the public are to be made aware of its existence and taught steps to deny any and taught steps to deny any cooperation to the same. An awareness campaign and steps to mobilise citizens to eliminate gambling, prostitution, vice-rackets etc. should be launched by public spirited citizens and non-governmental organisations. During elections, they can mobilise themselves to deny votes to criminal elements.

A national consensus on the need to take action against organised crime should be evolved.

Existing criminal laws are woefully inadequate to deal with the various manifestations of organised crime. There is need for a special legislation to effectively deal with this menace. Criminal procedure and evidence acts are to be suitably amended to ensure swift justice. Existing laws dealing with gambling, prostitution, drugs, vice-rackets and pornography are to be viewed and strengthened to provide stringent punishment. Inability of the criminal justice system to deal effectively is one of the root causes for the growth of organised crime as yesterday’s petty criminals become today’s dons.

Organised crime treats the criminal justice system with contempt and exploits the loopholes in criminal law and procedure. A proactive, public spirited judiciary is needed to deal with organised crime. Take the case of Italy - the judiciary single - handedly is fighting the mafia. Judiciary should enforce the laws against organised crime in spirit and should not allow criminal elements to go Scot free due to narrow interpretations of the letter of the law. While the dictum - ‘Bail is a right and jail is an exception’ may be admirable when applied to law abiding citizens, enforcing it for the benefit of criminals only harms the society. Re-establishment of the rule of law and the majesty of justice is a sure way of eliminating organised crime.

Steps are to be taken to liberate the police and bureaucracy from the clutches of political elements. Police who are the initiators of criminal justice system and the bureaucracy who are the dispensers of welfare measures are at the mercy of politicians for their survival. Politician’s displeasure visits them with harassment like frequent transfers, suspensions etc. The recommendations of the National police commission to establish a state security commission to oversee the police should be implemented early. Similarly, autonomous state administrative commissions to oversee bureaucracy should be created.

Activities of organised crime transcend state and national boundaries and are illegal. To deal with them effectively and bring them to book, professional expertise of a high order in detection, investigation and application of science and technology are called for. Central Bureau of Investigation has all these. As per of Interpol network, it has access to the resources of National Police agencies all over the world. It has got a reputation for impartiality and integrity. it is in the fitness of things that the CBI should be made the Nodal agency and the clearing house for all information and intelligence on organised crime.

A separate wing designated as anti-organised crime division should be opened in the CBI with an additional director as its head. This division should have officers in all metropolises and cities known for the activities of organised crime and also in foreign centres like Dubai. Its members should be deputed to visit Italy, USA, France and other countries which have well established organised crime network to study the work of Law enforcement agencies there.

To take head on the organised crime, moral courage and vision of political leadership is needed. It is sad, since 1967 and particularly after 1977, the Indian National Congress has allowed itself to be dominated by lumpen elements. Their success at the grass-root level had spurred other political parties, with little or no hope of coming to power, to follow suit. This has resulted in the criminalisation of political process. Political parties are unable to control the geni let loose by themselves. Tandoori murder, finding of a dead body in an MP’s quarter, procurement of a diplomatic passport for financial consideration, are all becoming a daily affair. These undermine the credibility of the democratic process, making the youth embrace politically violent movements.

Political sagacity demands that our leaders should cry a halt to this downward trend in ethics of politics. Our penal and procedural laws were enacted over a hundred years ago and they are inappropriate to deal with organised crime. Police, prosecuting and judicial agencies should update their practices and procedure to make dispensation of justice swifter. Media can play an useful role in awakening the masses to this peril through investigative journalism. Let all of us put our efforts together to make the fight against organised crime a success.