We are unfortunately a democracy and a soft State too. This is a lethal combination. This judgment marks the beginning of an arduous process which might even last till eternity. It will first go for appeals to the higher courts where the case and evidence would be re examined. whether the court upholds the decision of the lower court is another matter. If it does, then too we have the Supreme Court and if we are exceptionally lucky and the Supreme Court also reaffirms the judgment of a death penalty we can still provide him the reprieve in the form of Article 72 of the Constitution. Mercy petition. As a matter of fact there are already 29 mercy petitions pending with the President of India. She has no respite from receiving foreign dignitaries and diplomats at the Raisina Hil, l how can we expect her to pay attention to such trivial matters as awarding death sentence to the enemies of the State.
We don't have the guts to award gallows to a person who masterminded the plan to attack our parliament, would we ever be able to actually do justice to one who has only killed a few citizens in a city which has so regularly been exposed to such attacks, its just a routine affair for it, it has indomitable spirit and will carry on. Funnily enough i am here reminded of an advertisement, its from Kitply where a case is being dragged for generations so that the young lawyer and the accused both forget the names and the accusation only the judge's table remains intact in its place. It might seem insensitive to some but this is exactly whats going to happen now as well. Some years down the line we wouldn't remember who Kasab was, what he had done and we might have abolished the capital punishment by then.
So while you wait for a befitting judgment and watch the other dramas to unfold, i just submit a small quote for reflection.
दण्डः शास्ति प्रजाः सर्वाः दण्डः एवाभि रक्षति
दण्डः सुप्तेषु जागर्ति दण्डः धर्मं विदुर्भुदा
दण्डः सुप्तेषु जागर्ति दण्डः धर्मं विदुर्भुदा
Translation: the law rules over the public and defends it as well
it awakens the lackadaisical and that is why the scholars have equated its with the Dharma (Manusmriti)
Wish you all a happy weekend !
Alles Liebe
Suyasha
Well written...and quite true...If India intends to be seen as a Nation that takes a strong stand against terror, we need to act upon it. Our message to the world should not be that even criminals get just trials in India, but rather that India does not play around when it comes to handling terror.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this view. As a matter of fact, its the common poor masses who suffer at the hands of these senile laws, while the rich or those who can afford the top class lawyers know that they always have an escape route through Articles 226, 32, 136, 137 read with Article 72 of the Constitution. I remember when I was on my internship under Mr. Shantibhushan at the time when the Parliamentary Attack case was being argued in the Supreme Court, I had seen Geelani in the Court, while Hon'ble [;)] Mr. Ram Jethmalani (commonly referred to as the Devil's Advocate in the legal fraternity)was arguing on his behalf - a relaxed face, not even a distant trace of fear, leave apart remorse on his misdeeds, reason being a weak legal system, the best minds of the country arguing his case, the human rights activists to gather international pressure and act as a back up support, etc. As if seeing this delinquent's happy face was not enough demonstration of the weak system in India, to add to the spice, one of my classmates got up from his place as Geelani entered the Court Room and offered him the place just next to me. When I tried to stop him from doing so, I simply got the response - "Don't u know who he is, he is a celebrity". Oh wow!! what a celebrity!!!! Anyways, when I cudn't see any other alternative, I asked another friend of mine who was standing at a distance to come and take the seat, while I told the Criminal that someone was coming on the seat next to me.
ReplyDeleteFurther, one of my friends sarcastically pointed out the biggest flaw in the Indian legal system. If you are rich and you have a clean past, you have a license to commit any crime at the age of 50-55, coz by the time ur case reaches the Supreme Court and to the President passing through the lower courts (10-15 yrs minimum), High Court (5-6 yrs), etc (along with the adjournments and the 'tareekh pe tareekh' system, the accused would b either dead or 80-85 yrs and can easily seek pardon from the President.