Oct 24: Today was a red letter day, a day of judgement so to call, a return of faith for those who still pin their hope in our justice delivery system.
The judgements pronounced today were the cases that disturb the very secular and democratic fabric of India.
The decibels, at which communal controversies had echoed, had deafened our ear. And in return it has made us dwell with the sense of insecurity.
The communal poison spread like a fire, and several instances were a mirror to show us how communal policies are pursued in our country.
The cases for which the verdicts were pronounced today ranges from communal riots, fake encounter and murdering of faith.
Ubaidullah Aleem has written which beautifully describes the pain of communal riots “main kiske naam likhuun jo alam guzar rahe hain, mere shahar jal rahe hain, mere log mar rahe hain..koii aur to nahi hai pas-e-Khanjar-aazmaaii, hamin qatl ho rahe hain, hamin qatl kar rahe hain”….
Coimbatore Case
The Coimbatore case in which three were sentenced to life imprisonment charged with criminal conspiracy and murder charges of 1998 serial blast in Coimbatore, which left the city thunderstruck and traumatised. Those who were sentenced include the founder-leader of Al-Umma, S A Basha and its general secretary Mohammed Ansari. They plotted to take revenge for the killings of Muslim, who were killed in retaliation of a killing of policeman by Al- Umma activist. Three years later they came out with a plan to kill Advani during a rally which left several people dead and hurt.
Kanpur case
Another case of today’s judgement quite a similar case but those who are given life sentence belong to the other faith. In this case 15 people involved in Kanpur Riots of December 10, 1992, in which 11 Muslim people were charred to death in retaliation of the demolition of Babri Masjid.
Connaught Place shoot-out case
A case of fake encounter, where the crusader of justice were so blinded that they took the life of two innocent people, amidst the gun shots they did not show the mercy to the two yelling aloud that they are innocent. In this case the court has awarded life sentence for all the 10 Police officers involved in the case .On the dark day of March 31, 1997 Pradeep Goyal and Jagjit Singh were shot dead by a team of Police led by ACP S.S. Rathi.
The irony of this case is that the policemen are found guilty of murder, criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence and giving false evidence in court. As they have been found guilty of murder, they could either get death or life imprisonment.
Madhumita’s Case; end of life in an affaire which was not love
Amarmani Tripathi and his wife get a lifer for murdering Madhumita Shukla. Madhumita, a poetess who lost her life when she refused to abort the child, the DNA test of which resembled Amarmani’s.
Madhumani, wife of Amarmani comes to rescue her husband, and helps him get rid of Madhumita as the investigation suggests. She was found murdered in her Lucknow home on May 09, 2003 and later the case was handover to the CBI.
What next?
The judgments today gave a dash of hope, where delayed justice has become a way of our life.
The pending cases in various courts have diminished our hope in justice.
Some time the judgement, sometime the acquittal erode our faith.
Though the cycle is still not completed, as the criminals who have read the mind of our courts will appeal in higher and higher courts, may be the court will acquit them in the want of evidence.
The ironies that once convicted get clearance in other court still remain.
The quote by Abraham Lincoln tells the maladies related to the system of justice “He reminds me of the man who murdered both his parents, and then when sentence was about to be pronounced pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan”.
But the judgments today will relight our hope in justice, at least for its right directions.
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