Ethics Case Studies Compilation (11 to 15) | UPSC Mains: Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude PDF Download

Case -11

Q.11. Ramya is a newly appointed IPS officer in the district as Superintendent of Police (SP). He is a loyal and honest officer who works hard to control crime in his district. One day, the child of an influential businessman was abducted on his way home from school. The matter becomes national news, and all businessmen decide to strike one day and arrange a mass show in front of the SP office. The Minister of Home Affairs decided to visit the region, and a meeting was convened for all senior officials in the SP office. The rally echoed the outrage of angry businessmen demanding the immediate suspension of the SP and the arrest of a police officer in charge of the police station. The minister was furious with the SP and asked him to explain the failure of the police department. He has tried to explain the steps taken by the police to find the boy and identify the kidnapper, but businessmen and ministers are not satisfied. The minister scolded him in front of everyone. Ramya felt insulted in front of his officials, the public and the media, and asked the minister to speak out. The minister was furious and asked her to leave the room. He told her firmly that it was his office and he was not going anywhere. The minister immediately left his office and threatened to kill her. The next day he was suspended and ordered to be investigated for misconduct, as well as disobedience.
1. What mistakes did Ramya make?
2. How could he have handled the situation better?
3. Who was at fault in this story?
Ans. It is a tragedy for any family when their child is abducted. In such an environment, people are emotionally numb and irrational. They want their child to come back by any means. Some residents are emotionally traumatized because they all fear that similar events will happen to them. In that case, the district administration should be empathetic and share the family's pain.
1. Ramya had to meet with family members to inform them of the steps taken by the police to find the baby. He should have received their help in identifying the criminals, giving him his phone number to inform him of any clues about this. If the family had been satisfied with the police investigation, the matter would not have been so serious. He should also have been better prepared to explain to the minister and the public the steps taken by the police.
2. The Minister is the representative of the people's community and holds a senior position in government. They also hold people accountable. When such events occur, ministers are eager to show concern for others and do all they can to help them. He should have accepted the minister's public criticism and apologized for the police's failure in time. This would have softened the parents and the minister. They should have taken action against the police for failing to do their job. He should not have allowed the situation to get to this point.
3. Both Ramya and the minister were wrong. The minister had to be polite, especially when speaking to a woman. However, he had to accept the position of minister and respect him. He should have accepted the incompetence of the police under his charge and criticism instead of arguing with the minister in public and in the media.

Case -12

Q.12. Anurag and Pooja are officers of the Indian Revenue Service of the same group. They get married during their probationary period and have good family health. They share all the details of their professional and personal life with each other, and have complete confidence in each other. They were sent to different assignments in their work. Both are honest officials and have a good reputation in the department. Pooja was recently appointed as the General Director (Monitoring) of the city while Anurag was appointed as a Commissioner in the Tax House. Customs House is notorious for corruption, and anti-corruption organizations such as the CBI continue to prosecute corruption officials sent there. One day Pooja receives an anonymous complaint about her husband Anurag. According to the complaint, you have taken a big bribe from someone who is buying from other countries. He was upset that day and night, he told Anurag about the complaint. Anurag has pleaded not guilty to the charge and told him that the complaint was fraudulent, and was intended to discredit and discredit him. What should Pooja do?
1. He should discard an unknown complaint in the dustbin and take no action.
2. He should be the deputy chief executive officer to investigate the matter and report back to him. After receiving the report, he can take appropriate action.
3. Refer the matter to the Director General of the Vigilance department and ask him or her to send another officer to investigate the matter.
4. He must refer the case to the CBI for investigation.
Ans. This is a case of conflict of interest as Vigilance's mission is to investigate corruption cases against departmental officials; and in this case, the accused police officer happens to be her husband. He or she must act in such a way that there is no conflict of interest.
1. According to guidelines issued by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), no action is usually required to be taken against an unknown complaint unless the facts are proved in it. However, the vigilant officer must use his or her discretion and determine whether the complaint has substantiated facts. Under normal circumstances, he may be able to make a decision on such an issue. However, as in this case the complaint is against her husband, it creates a conflict of interest; therefore, he should refrain from making a decision in this matter. Therefore, she should not make any decision about the complaint against her husband or deny the complaint herself. This is not the right choice.
2. Under normal circumstances, an investigation is conducted by a subordinate officer appointed by the ADG to obtain the facts before any action is taken in a matter. In this case, however, her husband is involved and the junior officer is under her influence; therefore, in order to avoid a conflict of interest, he should not ask his younger brother to investigate the case.
3. This is the right course. The DG of the Vigilance Department may refer another ADG, or other senior official, to investigate the matter and submit a report directly to him. He will not be part of the investigation, therefore, there will be no conflict of interest in this case.
4. The matter should be referred to the CBI only after the first case of corruption has been identified by the monitoring officer. In this case, the investigation was conducted under the direction of the DG, therefore, he should take the call to refer the case to the CBI or not after receiving the investigation report. He must not appeal to the CBI of his own free will.

Case -13

Q.13. Mr Anuj Singhal has been appointed as the Police Commissioner (CP) in the city. He is known for his resilience, senselessness, and efficiency. People know that you are an honest person and do not accept bribes or any compliments from anyone. Amrita has been appointed as the Sub-Inspector (SI) at Police Headquarters and reports to CP. He is the protocol officer who performs various types of functions for the commissioner. She is extremely beautiful and well behaved. Suddenly, he draws the attention of the CP, who is attracted to him. He often invites her to his house and shares different types of work with her. He also takes her with him when he officially visits. Everyone can see that he enjoys Amrita's company. She also loves her attention from CP. Amrita shows her closeness to CP to her colleagues. Immediately, officials began to ask him to have the recommendations approved by the CP come first, and he also assisted in submitting the referral. He conveys messages to the CP on time and usually accepts his requests. Soon the news is passed to Anuj's wife and he begins to ask her about her intimacy with Amrita. The intimacy between Anuj and Amrita also becomes a topic of conversation, affecting the public image of Anuj.
1. What mistakes did Anuj make in this case? Did he break any moral code?
2. What should Anuj do in this situation? If your social obligations start to conflict with your personal life, it is obviously a matter of conflict of interest. Top government officials must show the highest level of honesty and integrity, and they must not do anything that would be unfair to a public servant. Public servants must do equality and justice. They should not discriminate between individuals, including subordinates, on the basis of class, religion, or sexual orientation.
Ans.
1. A public servant is a human being and suffers from a physical weakness. In this case, Anuj was attracted to his subordinates and began to give him special treatment. This gave him power over him and he began to abuse that power. He has no legal role in matters such as the approval of proposals or submissions, and therefore should not be allowed to play any role in such matters. Anuj must also realise that he is a public official and that his actions are not only in the eyes of his subordinates, but also in the general public. His intimacy with a female police officer may have damaged his relationship with his wife and his public reputation. By granting Amrita special rights, you have violated the code of conduct for civil servants such as equality, justice and morality.
2. The best step in this situation is to transfer Amrita outside the Commission House. He or she must not be allowed to enter the Commission and must be instructed to follow the ranks of officials so that there may be no formal communication with him or her. The CP should not listen to his calls and should not meet with him in private. This will send a message and stop all sorts of rumours about their dating.

Case -14

Q.14. Rajesh is a young man in the upper echelons of rural areas. He had attended local government schools. However, he was a very loyal student and always excelled in his schooling. After graduation, he wrote the Civil Services Examination and was drafted by the Indian Police Service (IPS) in the very first attempt. After completing his training, he goes to his home village to spend time with his family. His family is very proud of his achievements, as well as the citizens as Rajesh is the first person in the area to be appointed IPS official. Crowds of villagers came to his house to congratulate him. Charandas is one of Rajesh's childhood friends, who was overjoyed to learn that his friend Rajesh was coming to town after completing his training. He is a Dalit and is considered an unaffected person in the area. In his village, Dalits are not allowed to enter the house of the elite. They are not even allowed to sit in front of the elite; they must always stand before them. However, Charandas enters the house to congratulate Rajesh. All the people inside the house are the top people who are very upset to see the Dalit boy inside. They started to leave the house as they could not tolerate the Dalit man inside the house of the upper family. Rajesh's mother became very angry and scolded Charandas in front of Rajesh, telling him that he had polluted the house. He insulted her and told her to leave the house. He committed the crime under SC / ST Act 1989. Rajesh is aware of the legal consequences of such an act, which could lead to his arrest and prosecution.
1. What problem does Rajesh face?
2. What is the best way to handle such a situation? Confirm your answer.
Ans. 
1. Rajesh is a responsible police officer and cannot condone the crimes that occurred in front of him. If it were not for her mother, she would probably have taken action against such a person under the SC / ST Act. However, in this case, the mother has committed the crime but it is also her job to protect her mother as a son. He must choose between the principle of honesty and the principle of non-fiction, that is, not harming his mother.
2. Rajesh should ask his mother to keep quiet and not use derogatory words at her friend. He should be asked to apologise to his friend for using such words and humiliating him in public. If he refuses, he should immediately apologise to his friend on his behalf. He should tell his friend that he does not divide people into groups and that he will always be his best friend. He may ask her not to blame her mother and forgive her for not knowing the law, and for modern society. Charandas is a local resident, so he is familiar with local customs. Therefore, he would understand her mother's anger and perhaps forgive her for being an old woman with a depraved mind. However, if Charandas chooses to sue his mother, he must resign as a witness and ensure that the law takes its course against his mother.

Case -15

Q.15. Rajesh Gupta comes from a family of businessmen. His father owned a small kirana shop in Hisar district and some of his brothers were trained to join the family business. However, Rajesh was not interested in business. He was well academically educated and joined the Central Government as a gazette official. He married Sushila and had two children, Jay and Jaya. Rajesh was a hard-working officer; he was soon promoted to director-general of a key government department. He lived in a government apartment with his family and lived a simple life. He had a good reputation in the community, and in the department. One day, Gupta was arrested by the CBI when he was bribed with Rs 10 lakh at a hotel by a businessman. In a follow-up step, people raided his home and office, where about a dozen bank accounts and his account were found. A search conducted in these areas resulted in the discovery of Rs 1 crore and gold worth Rs 2 crore. The news spread like wildfire and a picture of him was published on the front page of national newspapers the next day. His reputation was ruined and his family was ruined. A few days later, both of her children were killed as they could not face public stigma. Mr Gupta had to be tortured in a CBI cell during the interrogation. He was released on bail after spending more than a month in jail. He was very depressed. Ten days later, he and his wife also committed suicide and left a note in which he made the CBI guilty of suicide, and he suspected that the CBI had falsely accused him and tortured him in custody.
1. Who is to blame for the Gupta family's suicide? 
2. Do you think the CBI should have had a more sophisticated strategy in this situation? Confirm.
Ans. Many middle-class and honest people become corrupt after entering a government department. It is not easy to resist the temptation to go to extremes. However, government officials are also concerned about their dignity as their dignity has been tarnished, and it will never be restored. So some people are trying to make a good name for themselves and want to make money in secret.
1. Rajesh focused only on building his dignity by living a simple life, but he did not care about preserving the character in order to preserve his dignity. John Wooden, an American basketball player, has rightly said, ‘You care more about your personality than your dignity, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is just what others think.’ This is exactly the fact that he was. being caught in the act of taking a bribe of Rs 10 lakh followed by the receipt of Rs 1 crore cash and gold worth Rs 2 crore shows that he had a habit of bribery, and that it was not an isolated incident. He managed to escape from the hands of the law for a long time, but now his karma was with him and he was punished. He had to face punishment under the law. If he was not corrupt, there was no need for the CBI to arrest him. Therefore, in this case only Mr. Gupta should be held responsible for his suicide and that of his family.
2. It is common for the CBI to use force during its investigation to obtain confession or evidence. Although the use of force is illegal in India, it is widespread. It is also true that even if no abuse is committed, the defendant often suspects abuse in the police investigation and withdraws the statement he was given while in police custody. Only an independent investigation can reveal the truth of this matter. Therefore, it may be investigated by the judges on the charges brought against Mr. Gupta. However, it appears that the CBI was doing its job and successfully securing a large sum of illegal money from Mr. The CBI cannot be held responsible for his suicide unless a medical report confirms any injuries to his body while in custody.