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Why the Choice of Words Matter the Most

Vijay Mallya who is currently absconding from India and is seeking refuge in UK, courtesy his citizenship of the European nation, was spotted over the weekend during a book launch ceremony in London. The ceremony assumes significance for multiple reasons. Mallya who left India in early March this year was spotted at a public function for the first time since his departure. The book launch event of Indian author Suhel Seth was jointly hosted by London School of Economics (LSE) and Indian High Commission in UK. The event also becomes significant as Indian High Commissioner to UK, Navtej Sarna was one of the speakers at the launch. Both LSE and Indian High Commission claim that Mallya was not on their respective invitee list. Mallya has himself has gone on record stating that he never gate crashed the event, something which he has never done in his life and that the author is his “friend”, suggesting he was “invited”.

Whether he was really on the invitee list or did he gate crash? Or because it was a public event, as claimed by the author, he didn’t need an invite? Did the Indian High Commissioner really left the function after spotting Mallya or is it just another theory of the External Affairs Ministry (EAM) to cover its back? While the world can keep on speculating what really transpired, I would like to bring your attention to three things here: First, the current government’s clout with the Media. We all are aware of the facts not much to elaborate. Second and more important was on Saturday RBI Governor Dr. Raghuram Rajan announced his decision not to seek a second term which attracted far more media glare (and deservingly so) and the people’s attention shifted towards this. Third and the most significant factor of them all is the way we represent financial crimes. They are called as defaults, whether willful or otherwise. We don’t look at them through the same lens as we do for other crimes, especially murders, dacoits, rapes, drug deals among others.

While there are valid arguments on either side on the usage of the word “default” pertaining to financial crimes, the clear intention is what matters and which is the spirit of any trade or commercial dealing. Had the media spared Suhel Seth if Mallya was a drug lord or a mass murderer? Enforcement Directorate (ED) approached Bombay High Court earlier this month seeking Mallya be declared a “proclaimed offender”. Will the CBI, IB, ED, Police Force and Ministry of Home Affairs be seen sitting quietly and would have done nothing about this “friend” of a proclaimed offender? Will Navtej Sarna still be the Indian High Commissioner to UK or would he be in EAM office in New Delhi trying to cover his back and save his career? In spite of all the brouhaha around the announcement of Dr. Raghuram Rajan, media would have still managed to cover this issue and rightly so. Why not now?

As we continue to debate on what is a default and what is willful default, we miss the larger canvas of the grave financial, emotional and mental difficulties it puts on a genuine individual/family directly or indirectly impacted due to such dastardly acts on the employee of the said organisation or one amongst the many stakeholders in that ecosystem. Kingfisher and UB Group is just one case in point. There are many more similar ones. Keeping the political reasons aside (the political reasons get meat because of the loopholes in the law) it’s time “we carefully choose our words”, certainly when enacting a law, as they tend to have a far reaching effect, much beyond the realms of our imagination. Swift action is needed to set a precedence before another defaulter willfully raises his hands and is seen enjoying the book launch of his friend.
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