<b>Shekhar Gupta:</b> Corruption and the caste differential

The track record of corruption cases involving big names indicates the system may be loaded against lower castes

Is there a caste or communal link to corruption and crime? Or, are your chances of being involved (and getting caught) in corruption cases higher as you go down the caste ladder? Let’s examine the facts.

Here is a roll call: A Raja, just acquitted after a six-year trial and 15 months in jail as an undertrial, is a Dalit. His party colleague and now acquitted co-accused Kanimozhi is from a backward caste. Madhu Koda (recently convicted in a coal case) and Shibu Soren (charged with bribery and murder and finally acquitted) are both tribals; Mayawati, a Dalit, and Lalu