Arrested by Delhi Police, Mussaddi Lal Tripathi admits his crime is because he is a 'common man'. Starting with his retirement as a school-teacher, and then the ailment and subsequent passing of his wife, Shanti, he sets about to perform last rites in a number of holy places along with his unemployed slacker-son, Bunty. After bribing railway employees for letting them travel without tickets, the duo are then fleeced by pundits who charge them an arm and a leg for performing Hindu cremation rites, and Bunty then leaves him after their clothes get stolen. Three months later, he returns home to find that both electricity and the phone have been disconnected due to non-payment of bills, & confusion reigns when bank officials accuse him of taking a loan. But the worst is yet to come when he will be deprived of any income after Pension and Accounts Office notify him that he is 'officially dead'. He will now be pitted against more corruption when he sets about to prove that he is very much alive, while five government employees, Bhatia, Pandey, Patel, Ushaa, and Shukla, are determined to frustrate all his efforts.