"Justice Delayed is Justice Denied" is one of the basic tenets of jurisprudence.
In India, we say that with more punch. "Justice Delayed to ensure Justice Denied".
That sums up the Jessica Lal murder trial verdict.
The sheer mockery of the entire justice system in India that this verdict represents has disillusioned the whole nation. A cold-blooded murder, in full view of over 100 people, is finally dismissed for want of eye-witness evidence. And that, after 6 years from the day of the crime.
It is almost customary these days for the rich and powerful to get away with any criminal offence, and the Jessica Lal verdict only adds further proof to the anarchy that has descended on our legal system. The fact that Manu Sharma shot Jessica Lal for refusing him a drink in full view of so many elite people at the party should have made this a prima facie case of murder. An Open and Shut case. However, the rich and powerful very conveniently bought the judicial system, to first delay justice to 6 years giving them enough time to ensure all the witnesses turned "hostile", and then to have a totally incredulous "Not guilty" verdict in their favor.
Some of the key witnesses who turned hostile include famous models and socialites. The cruelest blow was dealt by one spineless rogue called Shayan Munshi. Munshi, an actor in the Bollywood Film Industry, was also serving liquor to the guests, along with Jessica, and was a key eye-witness to the murder. However, he turned hostile and claimed that he was not even at the party on the night of the murder.
When Jessica Lal, herself being a top model, could not get justice, there is little hope for the common man. The incident not only exposes the weak value system in our society where witnesses turn hostile overnight, but also raises some very important questions about our legal system.
The legal system needs to tighten its perjury laws, to ensure witnesses cannot retract their statements with such wanton ease. The current law prohibits the witnesses from signing their statements, and is therefore, an open invitation for witnesses to turn hostile. If the perjury laws were strong enough, witnesses would not find it as convenient to turn hostile due to the repercussions of "lying under oath".
Secondly, verdicts should not rely so heavily on eye-witness evidence, but should also consider circumstantial evidence. In the Jessica Lal murder case, most hostile witnesses either claimed that they were not at the scene of crime, or that they didn’t actually see Manu Sharma fire the bullet at Jessica although they saw him fleeing with his gun. On circumstantial evidence, this would have been enough to nail Manu Sharma, but unfortunately, the system begs for eye-witness.
Further, the great problem for jurisprudence in our country is that although the system is over-reliant on eye-witness evidence, there is no Witness Protection Program to prevent witnesses from being bribed or threatened into turning hostile. In cases when the witness remains defiant, the loopholes in our system makes it fairly easy for the accused to simply eliminate the witness.
The most glaring loophole, however, is the fact that the case dragged on for 6 long years.
When all the eye-witness evidences were available, why wasn’t Manu Sharma tried sooner?
6 years is too long a time for even the bravest of witnesses to stand by his/her statement, in the face of threats and pressure. Add to that the fact that all the accused people were let out on bail, paving way for more foul play. The inability of the police to recover the weapon which was used to fire the mysterious "second" bullet adds more credibility to the conspiracy theory.
The entire country knows Manu Sharma killed Jessica Lal, but yet, the man walks free by law.
This incident could have far more dangerous implications since this might be construed as an assurance that people with financial and political clout can flout the law whenever they please and easily get away with it. For a country that is already simmering with anger and discontentment over the various media exposes, ranging from the "Tehelka expose" to the recent "CNN IBN Sting Operation", the Jessica Lal verdict could just be the "Tipping Point".
"Rang De Basanti", the recent blockbuster that was based on corrupt politics finally leading to a social revolution, may not seem so unreal anymore.
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3 comments:
as a follow up the judge who delivered the judgement should be punished so that the judging community has a fear of god in them
they need a kick and danda...
Vinayak: I agree that we definitely ought to take concrete steps to change the law if we hope to prevent such a mockery in the future. And we have both suggested some of the changes. But what remains suspect is the corroded value system among people. You can change the law, but you can't change the enforcers of law. Until the politicians, the police, the lawyers, the judges etc rediscover their long-lost conscience, such incidents will continue.
Your post was some food for thought!!!
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