India, Aug. 12 -- In a country where a senior bureaucrat's estimate of notional loss helped take down a government, determining what constitutes loss and how investigators assign responsibility in such cases is important indeed. This week, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) revised its master circular and said that financial and non-financial losses caused to a government department need not necessarily be considered the result of corruption or malfeasance.

This is a sensible distinction. The apex vigilance body - which oversees and supervises the vigilance aspect of organisations owned or controlled by the central government, including state-owned companies - is correct in stating that there might not be any correlation or causation...