Home / Blog

Ethics through Stories · GS Paper IV

What can an officer do when the order is wrong?

In Sophocles' Antigone, a woman buries her brother against the king's decree and dies for it. She is the hero every student remembers. But an officer is rarely Antigone. The play's more useful lesson is in the people who stood between her and the king.

Short answer

Rarely what Antigone did. An officer is not a citizen defying a decree but the person it is addressed to, and Indian service rules give more than obey or defy: say so on file with reasons, ask for the order in writing, escalate, make a protected complaint to the Central Vigilance Commission, and refuse only an order that is clearly illegal.

By 7 min read
Contents
  1. The case for Creon
  2. The case for Antigone
  3. The people in between
  4. What an officer can do
  5. Verdict
  6. GS4 practice
Who was Sophocles?Athenian tragedian (c. 497–406 BCE). Seven of his plays survive, among them Oedipus Rex and Antigone, first staged around 441 BCE.

Two brothers have killed each other in a war for the throne of Thebes. Eteocles defended the city; Polynices led a foreign army against it. Creon, the new king, decrees that Eteocles be buried with honour and that Polynices be left in the open for the dogs and birds. Anyone who buries him will die.

Their sister Antigone buries him anyway, and makes no secret of it. Brought before Creon, she does not plead. A king's decree, she says, cannot override the unwritten and unfailing laws of the gods, which belong to no particular day. Creon sentences her to be shut alive in a rock tomb. His son Haemon, who is to marry her, argues with him in public and tells him that a city which belongs to one man is no city. The blind prophet Tiresias warns him that the gods are offended. Creon gives way too late: Antigone has hanged herself, Haemon kills himself beside her, and Creon's wife Eurydice takes her own life.

GS4 syllabus“Ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance.”

The play is usually taught as conscience against law, and Antigone as the conscience that defied power. That is the right question for a citizen. For a civil servant it is the wrong one, because an officer is not Antigone. An officer is the person the king's decree is addressed to. The question for an officer is not whether to defy, but what to do long before it comes to that.

The case for Creon

GS4 keywordLegal positivism: a law is valid because a legitimate authority made it; whether it is also moral is a separate question.

Creon is easy to cast as a tyrant, but his first speech is a defence of the rule of law. Polynices brought a foreign army against his own city; honouring him would tell every future traitor that blood outranks the state. The decree is public, announced before anyone breaks it, and it applies to everyone, including the woman his son is to marry. Creon refuses to make an exception for his own family, which in any other story we would call impartiality.

His deeper argument is about what happens when everyone follows conscience instead of law. Laws exist because people disagree about what is right, and a state in which each person obeys only the rules they approve of is not a state. Creon puts it bluntly: there is no greater evil than anarchy.

The case for Antigone

GS4 keywordNatural law: the idea that some moral rules bind everyone, whatever a state commands. Antigone's “unwritten laws” are its classic statement.

Antigone's answer is one of the oldest statements of natural law: some duties come before any state, and no decree can cancel them. And Creon's decree is a poor test of the rule of law. It punishes a dead man, serves no public purpose beyond humiliation, and is made by one man who consults no one. When Haemon tells him the city disagrees, Creon asks whether the city is to tell him how to rule. That is the moment the law stops being the city's and becomes Creon's.

GS4 keywordCivil disobedience: breaking a law openly and without violence, and accepting the penalty, to protest its injustice (Thoreau, 1849; Gandhi's satyagraha).

She also breaks the law in the right way, if there is a right way. She acts openly, without violence, and does not run from the penalty. That is the pattern Thoreau described in 1849 and Gandhi built into satyagraha: a citizen who disobeys an unjust law and accepts its punishment is showing respect for law itself. Hegel read the play as a collision of two rights, family against state, each valid and each one-sided. That is why it still divides readers.

Two readings of Antigone Two boxes side by side. Read for Creon: the law binds everyone, even his own family; no traitor is honoured; order comes before sentiment. Read for Antigone: some laws are above kings; the dead are owed rites; no king owns conscience; she defies openly, and pays. Arrows from both lead to a third box: what both readings skip is the officials who had to carry the order out. Read for Creon the law binds everyoneeven his own familyno traitor is honouredorder before sentiment Read for Antigone some laws are above kingsthe dead are owed ritesno king owns conscienceshe defies openly, and pays What both readings skip the officials who had to carry it out Two readings of Antigone Two boxes side by side. Read for Creon: the law binds everyone, even his own family; no traitor is honoured; order comes before sentiment. Read for Antigone: some laws are above kings; the dead are owed rites; no king owns conscience; she defies openly, and pays. Arrows from both lead to a third box: what both readings skip is the officials who had to carry the order out. Read for Creon the law binds everyoneeven his own familyno traitor is honouredorder before sentiment or Read for Antigone some laws are above kingsthe dead are owed ritesno king owns conscienceshe defies openly, and pays What both readings skip the officials who hadto carry it out
Two readings. Each side has a real argument. Neither looks at the people who had to carry the decree out.

What both readings skip: the people in between

The argument is usually staged as Antigone against Creon, but the play is full of people who are neither. A guard reports the burial and later arrests her, mostly to save his own skin. The Chorus of Theban elders tells father and son that both have spoken well. Haemon argues with his father in public. Tiresias tells the king that he is wrong, and why. These are the play's officials, and their choices decide as much as Antigone's.

Creon's tragedy is not that he made a harsh law. It is that he had honest advisers and did not listen to them until his family was dead. The play does not show that conscience must defy the state. It shows a state that collapses when it stops hearing dissent.

Between obeying and defying Creon gives the order at the top. Below it, a line runs from obeying in silence to defying openly. Along it: the guard, who reports Antigone to save himself; the Chorus, who tell both sides they spoke well; Haemon, who argues in public; Tiresias, who warns the king; and Antigone, who defies and pays. Haemon and Tiresias are shaded as the place where an officer works: speak, record, escalate. Creon gives the order The guard reports her,to save himself The Chorus tells both sidesthey spoke well Haemon arguesin public Tiresias warnsthe king Antigone defies,and pays obey in silence defy openly Where an officer works:speak, record, escalate Between obeying and defying Creon gives the order at the top. Below it, a line runs from obeying in silence to defying openly. Along it: the guard, who reports Antigone to save himself; the Chorus, who tell both sides they spoke well; Haemon, who argues in public; Tiresias, who warns the king; and Antigone, who defies and pays. Haemon and Tiresias are shaded as the place where an officer works: speak, record, escalate. Creon gives the order obey in silence defy openly The guard reports her, to save himself The Chorus tells both sides they spoke well Haemon argues in public Tiresias warns the king Antigone defies, and pays where an officer works:speak, record, escalate
Between obeying and defying. Antigone is one end of a line, not the only choice. An officer's work lies in the middle, where Haemon and Tiresias stand.

What can an Indian officer actually do?

An Indian officer who receives an order he believes is wrong is not in Antigone's position, and the system gives him more than her two choices. The first question matters most: is the order illegal, or only unwise? An unwise order is the superior's or the minister's to make. The officer's duty is to say so, in writing, with reasons, and then to carry it out.

The ruleA superior's direction should ordinarily be in writing; an oral one must be confirmed in writing, and the officer can ask for that confirmation (AIS (Conduct) Rules, 1968, r. 3(3)).

The conduct rules support that. A note on file is how Haemon's argument survives in a modern government: it puts dissent on the record, where it can be read later, and it protects the officer who wrote it.

FactThe Whistle Blowers Protection Act received assent in May 2014 but has not been brought into force. A 2015 amendment bill lapsed in 2019.
SourceNuremberg Principle IV (1950): acting on a superior's order does not remove responsibility “provided a moral choice was in fact possible.”

An illegal order is different, and the ladder goes further. The officer can escalate. Since April 2004, anyone, including an officer, can make a protected complaint of corruption or misuse of office to the Central Vigilance Commission under the PIDPI resolution. It was notified a few months after Satyendra Dubey, an engineer with the National Highways Authority of India, was murdered in November 2003 after reporting irregularities in a highway project. And at the top of the ladder is refusal: since Nuremberg, following orders has not been a defence where a moral choice was in fact possible.

A ladder of dissent for an officer A ladder of six rungs, climbed from the bottom. 1: is the order illegal, or only unwise? 2: say so on file, with reasons. 3: ask for the order in writing, under rule 3(3) of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules. 4: escalate, to the next level or to vigilance. 5: make a protected disclosure under the 2004 PIDPI resolution, through the Central Vigilance Commission. 6: refuse a clearly illegal order, openly, since following orders is no defence. A bracket marks steps 1 to 3 as the place to stop for an order that is only unwise, then comply; an illegal order means climbing further. 1. Illegal, or only unwise? the first question decides the rest 2. Say so on file, with reasons Haemon's argument, on the record 3. Ask for the order in writing AIS (Conduct) Rules, rule 3(3) 4. Escalate to the next level, or to vigilance 5. Make a protected disclosure PIDPI resolution, 2004, through the CVC 6. Refuse a clearly illegal order openly; "following orders" is no defence unwise: stop at 3 illegal: keep climbing A ladder of dissent for an officer A ladder of six rungs, climbed from the bottom. 1: is the order illegal, or only unwise? 2: say so on file, with reasons. 3: ask for the order in writing, under rule 3(3) of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules. 4: escalate, to the next level or to vigilance. 5: make a protected disclosure under the 2004 PIDPI resolution, through the Central Vigilance Commission. 6: refuse a clearly illegal order, openly, since following orders is no defence. A bracket marks steps 1 to 3 as the place to stop for an order that is only unwise, then comply; an illegal order means climbing further. 1. Illegal, oronly unwise? the first questiondecides the rest 2. Say so on file,with reasons Haemon's argument,on the record 3. Ask for the orderin writing AIS (Conduct) Rules, r. 3(3) 4. Escalate to the next level or vigilance 5. Make a protecteddisclosure PIDPI resolution, 2004 6. Refuse a clearlyillegal order openly; "following orders"is no defence illegal order: keep climbing unwise order: stop below, comply
A ladder of dissent. Start at the bottom. An order that is only unwise stops at step 3, and the officer carries it out. An order that is illegal keeps the officer climbing.

Verdict

Antigone's courage, Haemon's method.

Antigone was right about the substance. The decree was cruel, served no public purpose, and came from a ruler who had stopped listening. But she was a citizen with nothing to give except her own life, and she had only two moves. An officer has more, and owes more: to say no on the record before saying no in deed, and to keep climbing the ladder when an order is truly illegal.

The play's warning is aimed at rulers as much as at rebels. A government that punishes honest advice will be left with the guard and the Chorus, and will learn the truth from a tragedy instead. The officer's task is to be Haemon before the tragedy: loyal enough to argue, and plain enough to be heard.

Using this in GS Paper IV

This case lets you illustrate laws, rules and conscience as sources of ethical guidance, natural law against legal positivism, civil disobedience, accountability, and how dissent works inside a bureaucracy. Try these:

  1. Case study (250 words). You are a district officer. At a meeting, your superior tells you orally to remove the stalls of licensed street vendors overnight before a VIP visit, without the notice the municipal law requires. The vendors depend on the stalls for their living. What will you do, and in what order?
  2. Essay. "Conscience is a reason to speak before it is a reason to disobey."
  3. Short answer (150 words). Distinguish civil disobedience by a citizen from dissent by a civil servant. Can a civil servant ever practise the first?

Practise: Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude mock tests · Read: Ethics study notes

Also in Ethics through Stories: Was Leonidas right about Ephialtes? · Was Newton a good officer, or just a stubborn one?

Sources

  • Sophocles, Antigone (first staged around 441 BCE): Antigone on the unwritten laws, from about line 450; Creon on anarchy, around line 672; Haemon on a city that belongs to one man, around lines 734–740 (Jebb's translation). Line numbers vary slightly between editions.
  • G. W. F. Hegel's reading of the play as a collision of two ethical powers, in the Phenomenology of Spirit and the Lectures on Aesthetics.
  • H. D. Thoreau, “Resistance to Civil Government” (1849), later published as “Civil Disobedience”.
  • All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, rule 3.
  • Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers (PIDPI) Resolution, notified 21 April 2004 (summary).
  • Satyendra Dubey's murder and the 2010 conviction: The Tribune.
  • The Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014, and its amendment: ThePrint, December 2024.
  • The Nuremberg Principles, formulated by the International Law Commission in 1950.

is the founder of Mock Test Mitra. Spotted an error? Write to mocktestmitra@gmail.com. Corrections are made on this page and noted with the date.