Re: [nukkad] Salman gets a year in jail

[Bharatiyar <>]

[This message contained attachments that have been removed.]


On 2/18/06, Tirumurti Vasudevan  wrote:
>
> the justice functions for the common man. not for the rich or powerful.
> you will see that he somwhow wriggles out of it.
> the latest way this is done is that the lower court passes a sentence
> with technical flaw in it and people calm down thinking that justice
> has been done.
> then an appeal is made and the higher court releases the person citing
> the technical points.
> tv



It is unfair to blame the Courts in this regard of intentionally passing
verdicts with flaw.

It is wrong to presume that the Judge determine the outcome of the case.
Yes, nominally he does but his decision is based on the facts presented to
him 'beyond reasonable doubt'. When the Police Officers & Public Prosecutors
present incoherent or incomplete facts to the judge, he has no option but to
acquit the accused. More than the judge, the police and the PP determine the
outcome of criminal cases.

'Save the VIP" operation starts right from the FIR Stage. In the rare cases
where the Police officer is upright or where the VIP angle is not clear at
that stage, the process starts later. Intimidation or bribing of witnesses,
frustrating the witnesses by seeking frequent adjournments, inserting
technical flaws in gathering evidence or at the time of presenting evidence
to the Court etc. are within the powers of Police and PP.

SC judgment in the Gujarat Best Bakery case is illustrative of this fatal
flaw in our system. In two cases recently in Kerala, two VVIPs and their
cronies went scot free of charges of raping a minor girl when ALL
prosecution witnesses turned hostile and police itself created doubts about
the date of birth of the girl involved. The State Government did not even
consider filing an appeal and even opposed the moves of an NGO to pursue the
case.

The weakest link in our Criminal Justice Administration is the Police led
Prosecution. There may be corrupt judges, but upright Police Officers are
rarer still.
B

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To get respect, Learn to give some. It works same for love as well as hate.
- Azim, nukkad member
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To join/leave, use the form at: http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/#options
This list is archived at: http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/archive.html