It was 1993, Bombay bombings took more than 260 fatalities & injured way too many. We all saw the aftereffects in TV with moist eyes. Dawood Ibrahim is the mastermind behind these bombings. Of course, he did not do it unaccompanied & there were quite a lot of terror outfits & big shots joined hands to institutionalize this heinous crime.
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Story of Sanjay Dutt: The then super star, Sanjay Dutt was indirectly involved in this heinous attack. He was arrested for securing the arms used in the attack and also for requesting the arms to be destroyed so that there won't be any evidence against him. And he was given a bail after serving 18 months in jail. Oh Boy, did he rule Bollywood after coming out of jail? Yes, indeed. Bollywood welcomed him with stretched arms & he became one of the favorite supporting actors and lived a huge life. As of today, he is convicted for his act & he is supposed to be serving 5 years in jail.
That was 1993, when the bombings happened. And the current year is 2013. Did you guys observe the fact that, it is been 20 damn years to bring this one guy to justice although he was only indirectly involved? And imagine, when will we see the light of the main culprit who resides somewhere in Pakistan or Dubai in a plush bungalow and directed these bombings as if he was directing a movie? Why is our judiciary pulseless and follows "red tape" like it is their birth right?
The worst thing is, the entire Bollywood Community which is based out of Mumbai where the bombings happened, is supporting Sanjay Dutt and questioning the logic behind his 5 years imprisonment. Will Bollywood address the hardships faced by those who were either killed or injured in the attack? No, so why bother when judiciary finally wakes up to truth? How do they even sleep peacefully at night after publicly supporting a convict?
Story of Salman Khan: Take Salman Khan, who literally rammed his SUV over the homeless people who were sleeping on the roadside pavement & killed one. I would like to recollect a news that was floating couple of months ago, the hearing of this particular case was postponed to a week because Salman wanted to celebrate his B-Day with his buddies. And guess what, out court awarded the much needed break for Salman. Where are we going?
Story of A.G. Perarivalan: Here is one from Tamil Nadu, one of the three convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case named A.G. Perarivalan, a convict on a death row, who is lodged in Vellore central prison, has scored 1,096 out of 1,200 marks in the Plus-Two examination and topped the list of prisoners who took the examination, reported a famous daily. Why sensationalize a convict's score? And is this a ground to get clemency? No way!
Media plays a very important role in letting the people know, what is right & what is required.
They should not sensationalize a convict's story or good deed(who cares, if he has become a good person after committing a crime?) like this to get more audience during prime time. Media ethics should be followed with strong conviction to curb sensationalism.
Yes, this is the India we live in. When will we see the light at the end of the tunnel? We can only hope & say "Even this will change"!
Leave a comment, I would love to hear your views.
Image Courtesy: Internet
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That was 1993, when the bombings happened. And the current year is 2013. Did you guys observe the fact that, it is been 20 damn years to bring this one guy to justice although he was only indirectly involved? And imagine, when will we see the light of the main culprit who resides somewhere in Pakistan or Dubai in a plush bungalow and directed these bombings as if he was directing a movie? Why is our judiciary pulseless and follows "red tape" like it is their birth right?
The worst thing is, the entire Bollywood Community which is based out of Mumbai where the bombings happened, is supporting Sanjay Dutt and questioning the logic behind his 5 years imprisonment. Will Bollywood address the hardships faced by those who were either killed or injured in the attack? No, so why bother when judiciary finally wakes up to truth? How do they even sleep peacefully at night after publicly supporting a convict?
Story of Salman Khan: Take Salman Khan, who literally rammed his SUV over the homeless people who were sleeping on the roadside pavement & killed one. I would like to recollect a news that was floating couple of months ago, the hearing of this particular case was postponed to a week because Salman wanted to celebrate his B-Day with his buddies. And guess what, out court awarded the much needed break for Salman. Where are we going?
Story of A.G. Perarivalan: Here is one from Tamil Nadu, one of the three convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case named A.G. Perarivalan, a convict on a death row, who is lodged in Vellore central prison, has scored 1,096 out of 1,200 marks in the Plus-Two examination and topped the list of prisoners who took the examination, reported a famous daily. Why sensationalize a convict's score? And is this a ground to get clemency? No way!
Media plays a very important role in letting the people know, what is right & what is required.
They should not sensationalize a convict's story or good deed(who cares, if he has become a good person after committing a crime?) like this to get more audience during prime time. Media ethics should be followed with strong conviction to curb sensationalism.
Yes, this is the India we live in. When will we see the light at the end of the tunnel? We can only hope & say "Even this will change"!
Leave a comment, I would love to hear your views.
Image Courtesy: Internet
That's very true about India,Pavithra:)
ReplyDeleteYes indeed,Julie. Thanks!
DeleteGood post dear
ReplyDeleteThanks Beena!!
DeleteIt's always heights when it comes to Indian media.. Let at least the youth & younger generation realise this & contribute his share of small goodness to help build a better India.. Hope we all witness that day soon..
ReplyDeleteValuable thought, Chitz. I hope so too.
DeleteHi i just happened to stumble upon your blog while i was browsing another and being a law student your this particular post happened to grab my attention but most importantly it was the following statement "who cares, if he has become a good person after committing a crime?"
ReplyDeleteActually people do care, they may not be your average everyday man but there are people who work in the legal and penal reformation fields, who work very hard to reform the existing laws pertaining to punishments and prison condition. Our punishment system works on a reformative theory basis so no matter how small or unusual the reform, a positive reform is a reconfirmation in the functioning of this system. These positive reforms certainly don't absolve these criminals nor does it make their crime any less tolerable but it rather ascertains the intention of the framer of the law when they came up with the reformative theory and that is something the people fighting for certain changes are looking for.
On account of the speedy justice system requirement, i too feel the need for it, but you know what with this need one must have an understanding of the fact that we are a Democratic nation with a billion and a quarter heads, Contrary to popular belief the best is being done considering all parameters. The so called speedy system that most of us speak of, is practically possible only if we adopt middle eastern laws and give justice in form of stoning, lashing and the likes. and yeah let us throw out the part that says fair trial too.
There is certainly one thing i agree with what you had to say:
"Media plays a very important role in letting the people know, what is right & what is required." and this certainly includes the internet media.
P.S: a popular tabloid may claim Salaman khan's case was postponed to a week because Salman wanted to celebrate his B-Day with his buddies, But no court of law grants continuances on those grounds. The grounds the media and that the lawyer present are different and the court tends to go with the latter.
Snehith, I must say - this is one heck of a comment and good to see a law student's view. I always would like to take the positive & negative feedback with ease. And I'm happy you poured in your view!
DeleteIf you happen to come back to this blog by any chance, I want you to reply to this comparison of mine and answer as to if you still support age-old, not-so-up-to-date, under-staffed Indian Law:
A 16 year old student somewhere in the USA was raped by 2 fellow 16 year olds in a party in (August 2012) when the girl was in inebriated state, the judgement came this month(Mar 2013) and the students responsible are duly punished even though they are from the upper strata and are famous club players. Why is that, India takes 20 years to punish, that too not the main culprit, but the sub?
Forget Dutt, take Nirbhaya's killers - we all know what happened to Nirbhaya, but still we cannot bring them to justice, how many months have passed by? We can't even protect the culprit in Jail, now he has committed suicide? Don't you see there is a huge flaw in the rudimentary of our Law/Justice/Media???
About Khan: When media reports the reason for Khan's postponement of trial, then don't you think that is all a common man/women would know? If media has twisted the real statement, don't you think, Media should be penalized? Why is the Govt or some Law Association(dunno what you call it?) accepting the caricature created by media?
Would love to hear your views!!
Hi Pavithra, i did realize my comment would leave a lot of room for further questions,
ReplyDeletefirstly do i still support age-old, not-so-up-to-date, under-staffed Indian Law? well to this i would like to say that 'support' as such is a wide word and a rather strong one,i wouldn't go out say i support and i am all for this but i certainly would say considering our early democracy, high population, literacy rate, social taboos and likes, i think it is the best we got at the moment. Do i think we are perfect? No. Do i think we are doing a great job? Yes i do. you could ask me is taking 20 years to solve a small part of a big crime, a great job? i would still say yes. You can sight as many examples from the US or any other first world country but my answer to that is, good for them, but we are not them. I certainly hope our system gets as quick as theirs someday, but before that lets get equal in every other aspect with them.
You bought up a comparison of India and the US, well personally i don't think these comparisons are fare. To me it is like comparing a ferrari against a maruti. They both stand good, rather great in their respective classes and it doesn't make sense to compare them against each other. What has the US done about the 9/11 bombings (i ask this, speaking in terms of trial justice)? which person has been bought to a court of law, undergone trial and received a court sentence? one would say osama has been killed. Well that is not called the rule of law, it is called retribution, something that can not be a part of a civilized society, it is vigilantism in the name of war against terror. But hell if thats what we call justice lets were our capes get of the bat cave and start popping criminals. Clearly not a pretty picture, at least not to me. I am proud to say that our legal system bought the perpetrator of 26/11 to justice and sentenced him to death by the letter of law( the issues about that trial is a whole other debate though) and not some act of violence.
About the Mumbai attacks now, you are right it is justice delayed and you are also right to question if it really is justice considering the main culprit is perhaps sipping on an ice tea somewhere in the Middle East. To this all i have to say is "Justice delayed is better than Justice denied".
Coming to Nirbhayas case, still feel sorry about the entire episode and it is undeniably a huge black-spot on every face of our country. Personally I am not comfortable discussing this matter out in a public forum where I cannot provide immediate clarity on my views, the matter is still pending before the court and commenting on the court or other departments role over here wouldn’t be completely appropriate, though I would be happy to share my views pertaining to that via email or a call. I hope She gets her due and the guilty theirs.
Now about Khan:The Media reports a lot of things and personally i do share your hatred of the sensationalizing media but i don't see in any manner the judiciary responsible for this. The media is given the freedom it has to protect the public interest, rather these days the media works at creating new public interests. The govt. or judiciary doesn't accept the carricature created by media but thinks it in best interest to not fuel the fire by participating in the media circus.
Well these are all my opinions some my arguements but wholly mine and everyone has a right to have their own, concurring or differential...
Snehith, it is the best ONLY because we have no other choice!! So basically we live with it, rather than trying to change or bring in the change or at least take the first baby step towards change. Also, we Indians are not so comfortable or kind to the word "Change". If we live with what we got, then we are complacent. The point I'm trying to make is, it is been so long since we got our independence, but nothing has been done or changed from the judiciary end from common people's eyes! It has always taken so long to bring somebody or something to justice. The next step to fix this "red tape" was never taken. And that my dear, scares me!!
DeleteThis is where America comes in, having stayed there for couple of years, I can very well vouch that, rules laid by federal are followed by even the common men there. Why? because the law is strict and serves people better. Mind you! It is not a dictatorship, America gives its people enough freedom at the same time, curbs unnecessary ones. An example in Indian context would be, to get the deserved change from Bangalore bus conductors is a nightmare, if the same thing happens in the USA, the conductor along with the driver would be in Jail hands down - do you see what I'm saying. Law should be enforced where it is necessary!! If the rudimentary of Law from the grass root level is fixed, only then India can think about reducing the time spent in bringing the culprit/criminal to justice.
It is ironic, you brought 9/11 in, that actually supports my argument. Please point one devastating incident after 9/11 in the USA by terrorist? None! They have the best military and law enforcement in the world(period). Their people follow rules(most of them) - [Here please do not bring in the gun control part(That will deviate the topic, will come to that in another blog)]. I'm sure you watched "Zero Dark Thirty", I loved it, I'm not sure about you. But the point is, they took Osama and that is American Grit!! They showed the world what is called us perseverance, freaking hard work, goal, grit, might, gumption - none of this, we possess.
Snehith, you are talking about good-for-nothing-kid "Kasab" - He is not even the main culprit, he is a doer!! And if you say Indian Judiciary did a great job by hanging him after trial, you may have to go back and check the origination of the trouble. Hanging Kasab or another doer Afsal Guru will not solve the underlying bigger problem. Find the MAIN CULPRIT and hang him or bring him to justice, that my dear would help in the long run, it will instill fear in the terror outfits. I still cannot believe, you are in awe with Indian judiciary for hanging a bellhop called kasab while the main guy is happy somewhere - Do you see what i'm trying to say?
America did good by taking down Osama for 9/11. 10 long years, so what? still they did it! - I salute America for this, my respect doubled after this.
But not for 26/11!! I'm sorry, that is what i feel and it is my personal view and I'm very sure there are quite a few who will agree to my views at least partially.
When you say "Justice delayed is better than Justice denied" - The mentality is totally wrong! If you start living with the mistakes, you get used to it and you will turn lethargic. One example would be, until Anna Hazare brought the corruption subject to common people, we were all sleeping, so when it was brought out we all participated and the feeling was mutual. So the point is you being a law student, please do not support or live with the existing out-dated rules. Bring in fresh energy to whatever that you can do to change, To see the change you need the attitude to change! So please do not be complacent. I'm sorry, If I crossed the line, but it is just my personal view!
As always your views are welcome, Snehith!!
Hi Pavithra, I would love to answer all that you asked right away, but quite honestly I am caught up preparing for a test. So at the moment I really don't have the time to get into every detail of what you have mentioned but I just have a few things to put across:
DeleteYou are reading a little too much into my opinion, yes I said it's the best we got, I never said it can't get better, I didn't say our people are doing the best in every aspect, all my opinions have been inclined towards the legal justice system, all I have done so far is defend it. I haven't defended the naive, laidback, lazy, corrupt and almost crazy society that we got.
And quite frankly I am sick of people bringing up that it's been so long since we got our independence what have we done. could you please care to point out any other country as exploited as ours, as laid back with it's own peoples mentality and other conditions similar to ours that has received freedom and achieved as much as we have. please don't take this as me saying what we are doing is enough but this is to all those people who ask what have we achieved. The united states took a good 142 years after it's freedom till women got their complete right to vote.
Coming to your bus example, it is amazing how so many people complain about them on blogs, among peers and others but how many have taken the efforts to bring these culprits to the authority. you were right we are lazy, undetermined and corrupt but none of these reasons to blame the judiciary. Saying this I would like to reiterate on the fact that right from my first comment all I have done is justified and stood by the indian judicial system and some how you have managed to read so much further into it. The debate of how bad our society is, is not connected to the points I have defended, you can not draw an argument from a completely different contention to read into my opinion, I don't think that is fair to whatever I have said so far.
Speaking about the rudimentary of law, I want to point out that there is no society where the grass root of law is the law itself, it's the people of that relm, an understanding of this is extremely necessary before you decide how to rank/score/judge a legal system. when I appreciate the judiciary I keep in mind all this, I can not separate these and talk, it is not right to do so. So having a failed society is not your grounds of claiming its a failed society. please understand in our case it is a failed society failing the judiciary and not other way round.
coming back to 9/11, yeah I loved zero dark thirty too, but you know why cause it is a movie and that's what it is. I don't see why should I appreciate a country entering the lines of another to go and kill their criminal no.1. this doesn't show how law abiding or brave they are, this shows how successful they are at bullying and is it expected of one to feel proud about, well at least not to my conscious. Having said this I want you to please go through my this particular part of the previous comment, I spoke merely of the law/judicial aspects, you seem to have bought about some administrative aspects as well. the judiciary doesn't have a say in everything, the judiciary is not the one that goes after lashkar e taiba, thats the administrative government and it's wise to leave that part of the discussion to them and not mix the judiciary job in there. I know kasab is no big game, but which big game can you name from the US attacked terrorists that has been tried in a constitutional court of law ( don't bring up the army courts or the Guantanamo courts, it shames me to call them even courts).
Delete"So the point is you being a law student, please do not support or live with the existing out-dated rules. Bring in fresh energy to whatever that you can do to change, To see the change you need the attitude to change"
So far I don't see what that I have written shows I am complacent, I do take a little offence on that remark. like I said people tend to over-read into what one says. If I were complacent then I would have settled happily with the complaining lifestyle like that of others, To be honest there was a time in my life while I shared your opinions but then guess I must have had an intuition to take your advice I decided to bring in fresh energy among the complainers, got out and decided to first understand the issues completely before I started complaining. There has not been a moment so far where, I said the society is perfect or the law is (read what I have written again) what you seem to have done, is a common flaw in critical thinking, Over read into my opinion and mixed your bias with my opinion. Now I am sorry if I crossed the line, but this just happens to be my personal view.
Having said all this I am sorry if I couldn't exactly get my opinions to you. I have not made any attempt to show that we are the best at anything, I have specifically made no claims whatsoever that ours is the best judiciary, I don't claim that there is no room for improvement. All I claim is that the Judiciary is doing a brilliant job with the existing set up it has. The judiciary doesn't bring about change all by itself, there several other gears that need to turn to re position it. so before we start complaining that our judiciary doesn't have this, doesn't do this, it's slow and all the likes, let us go check the supporting cast, maybe we all have something we can do...
Hmm.....What can I say?
DeleteEnjoyed reading your side of argument and although I cannot agree to your views completely, it is good to hear the story from the other side of the coin(for a change somebody supports the existing state of affairs, appreciate that anyways!).
One of your lines i.e.,
"It is a failed society failing the judiciary and not other way round" - is something I would not completely agree to, but a good 'food for thought' for me to think upon this line! Thx.
Another line of yours:
"All I claim is that the Judiciary is doing a brilliant job with the existing set up it has." - is something I will NEVER EVER agree to!!
But as they say, to each his own!
So let us leave it like that!
Also, all the very best for your examination, Snehith! I got the glimpse of your passion for Law with your writing, kudos to that.
"To each his own", I certainly agree to that, and i certainly shall keep following your blog. found it really interesting, the varied topics are very refreshing, looking forward to more great posts from you. Cheers! for a job well done.
DeleteHey thanks buddy, for the gracious and genuine compliment!!
DeleteI would certainly try my level best to bring in some variety to the topics I write about.
And I have one on "Arvind and Anna's movement" - I would publish that soon, it requires some fixing from my end, I'm sure you can pick a bone or two in that topic for sure ;-)
Also I'm glad you stumbled upon my blog!