It is said that the higher you go, the stronger the tea will be. The news of high-ranking officials being caught for bribery with salary and many perks is surprising. It is not because they are unable to carry on with their lives that they are exploiting the height of the chair they are sitting on, but these people steal lakhs and crores as bribes in a single transaction. Executive Director of Public Sector Undertaking Gas Authority of India Limited K B Singh was arrested by the CBI the other day for accepting bribes. He took a bribe of fifty lakh rupees to allow gas pipeline contracts. Apart from the person who paid the bribe, three more people have been arrested in this case. The arrest was made after hours of search at the residences of K B Singh, a native of Uttar Pradesh, and his associates. In return for signing the contract for laying natural gas pipelines in Andhra Pradesh and UP, Singh received half a crore rupees from the private company. He was also the target of the CBI before.

Bribery is not confined to any sector or among officials. This cancer-like 'disease' is spreading everywhere. Even the CBI, which was formed to find and arrest the corrupt, is not far behind in the matter of bribery. The Enforcement Directorate, which works to lock up those involved in financial crimes, is also occasionally caught in bribery cases. Income tax, highway authority and customs also reap good harvests for bribers. Sometimes some get trapped, but many escape.

The elites in the government service rely on bribery to maximize revenue. Like any bad habit, once you get used to it, it becomes irreversible. A special court recently sentenced a top customs official along with his wife and daughters to prison in a bribery case. The punishment was because they also enjoyed the fruit of the resources obtained through bribery. Households must also be aware of the immense amount of money received as bribes. It may seem strange that even high-ranking people, despite being paid salaries and allowances that are more than enough to live on, are running after bribes. But that's what goes around. The only solution is to rewrite the laws to confiscate the money earned through bribery and immediately dismiss the bribe takers from service.