GOVERNMENT FINANCES-Steady Contraction

other cases, one wonders whether the CBl's Bofors case will also not follow the fate of disastrous precedents like the Jain hawala case. If India's supreme investigating agency comes under a cloud, it can have serious implications for the future of crime prevention in the country. Dishonest politicians who are on the increase can continue to indulge in perfidy, fully assured of the shoddy home work done by the investigators as a result of which nothing can be proved against them in the courts. En fact, in several cases of crimes like murder recently, the courts have acquitted the accused because of the failure of the police to muster enough evidence, or for discrepancies in the framing of charges. In cases of white-collar crime-which involve the powerful and the influential in society the judiciary is likely to be more cautious in passing judgments in the absence of foolproof evidence. In an all pervasive atmosphere of utter cynicism, allegations of corruption against politicians or big business even when true are likely to be pooh-poohed by the public, if case after case against them collapses on the floors of the courts.