Standing Officers of Customs - Kissa Kursi Ka

By Vijay Kumar

IT'S the story of Chairs for Customs officers - On 13th May 2016 (a day after the dated video of a Customs officer demanding a bribe went viral on social media - see DDT 2846), the chairs for the Customs officers of Mumbai's CSI airport were removed and they were asked to attend to their duties standing. This created a furore and a sort of standoff between the Customs Chief Commissioner and the protesting superintendents. The Superintendents refused to sit during a discussion with the Chief Commissioner. They discussed with him - standing. By 17th May, the standing officers were given back their chairs.

But why were the chairs removed? It is alleged that it was the Chief Commissioner's way of punishing the Superintendents for checking a friend of his, who is a Customs broker. Anyway, the chairs are back and the Superintendents are back to their seats but this ill-will between the top boss and his Superintendents could have been avoided.

Should the Customs Officers sit when there is no chair for the passenger? It may be surprising, but there was a time when the Customs Inspectors and Superintendents checking the baggage of air passengers were not actually allowed to sit - there were no chairs for them in the arrival hall. The idea was that when the passenger, a citizen who is your master is standing before you, it was disrespectful for you as the servant to sit. So, Customs officers happily and courteously stood up while the passenger was being cleared. Over a period of time, this concept of respect for the master-citizen waned and ultimately vanished, with nobody giving a damn for the citizen.

An Inspector will not sit when an Assistant Commissioner is standing before him, but he would have no qualms of making a citizen stand before him. And this citizen is the one for whom even the President of India is a servant! Once you realise that the one standing before you is higher in rank than the President of India, it will be absolutely fine if you don't have a chair.

But then, why can't there be a chair for the passenger too?