Accused Before the Trial

I have been keenly watching the proceedings of the Jessica Lall, Priyadarshini Mattoo and Nitish Katara cases, especially the Priyadarshini Mattoo case maybe for the fact that we belong to the same native place. Somehow when the judgment in the case was delivered with the accused Santosh Singh to be hanged till death I somehow found something amiss, unlike many of my friends who were ecstatic about the judgment I deep down felt that something is not right. I felt uneasy the way events have taken place in these cases.

I completely agree that the accused in this case has committed the most gruesome and the heinous crime one can think of and he must be punished for the same by the rule of the land. Now that he has been sent to the gallows, the much awaited judgement has been delivered though I am amongst those few people who believe in the fact that capital punishment is not the way to bring down the crime rate but that’s a different story. But what I feel is wrong is the fact that we as a country and country-men at time allow sentiments to rule us and the fact that our thinking ability and the ability to reason takes a back seat and the popular sentiment takes command of us. In this situation, the same thing has happened, before the judgment was pronounced by the Honorable High Court of India, the people were hell bent on sending the guilty to the gallows. The processions, dharnas and morchas demanding that the accused be damned to death made it very evident that the people have lost faith in the judicial system of India and they were hell bent on taking the law into their hands. I have no hesitation in saying that Santosh Singh was denied a chance of a fair trial in this case. I have no sympathies for him but all accused (even if he has committed the gruesomest of the crimes) have a right to fair trial and in this case I believe that he was denied of the basic fundamental right.

I don’t know how many Priyadarshini Mattoo’s die a premature death, aborted when they are in the womb, raped and killed, burnt alive for dowry. There are many such cases pending with the various courts in India awaiting justice. How are these cases different from this case? I don’t see any difference and I believe that it is impossible to decide the severity of a case in the sense a rape and murder case is the same whether it has happened in Delhi or in some tribal area in a remote corner of India where it is almost impossible to detect. What do we do about it? We take out morchas, processions, send smses to the news channels that the accused if found gulity be hanged……..It can have dangerous repercussions which we won't realise at this moment. I don't want to elaborate on that since that would be a deviation from the this issue.

I am a strong believer that rather than sensationalizing cases on singular basis, lets work towards the strengthening of the system. I have full faith in the judicial system of India, though it has its own weak areas;but no system is perfect, whether it is India or for that matter any other country (I so love Rang De Basanti, thanks to Rakeysh Mehra for incorporating this dialog in the movie), the onus is on us to work towards making that system near to perfect if not perfect. How we are going to do it? Don’t ask me…..Not because I don’t have an answer but for the fact that it has to be one’s individual calling and an individual has to realize how he can add value to his country, his motherland. We as a nation don’t need a preacher for answers, we don’t need leaders to tell us what to do in life and how to move forward, all we need is some introspection and believe me we have an individual capacity, each one of us to make a difference.

Jai Hind

PS:- I have a few lawyer friends and I am more than certain that I will face brick bats from them, so I have to beware and hone my arguing skills.