1984
India's Corrupt Courts Find Novel Excuses
by RAKESH BHATNAGAR
This news item is being presented as the 73rd piece in sikhchic.com's "1984 & I" Series, which is being brought to you through the 12 months of this year to commemorate the 25th anniversary of India's crimes of 1984.
The Delhi High Court (HC) acquitted on Monday (December 8, 2009) a woman, Kaushalya, accused of burning alive the husband of her neighbour Gopi Bai and his nephew during the 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms. The other three accused of killing Badshah Singh and Hakam Singh are reported to have "died" during the course of the trial.
Justifying freedom to Kaushalya, the Indian High Court said the trial court depended entirely on the findings of the Ranganath Mishra and Jain commissions that testified that the law and order machinery had broken down for a few days after the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and that police aided the massacre of innocent Sikhs.
The case was opened after Gopi Bai told police 12 years after the pogroms that Kaushalya and the others had murdered her husband and his nephew. She later retracted the statement, but the trial court disbelieved her evidence and convicted her.
The High Court said one may have a suspicion about the involvement of Kaushalya in the crime because of the circumstances, but "the fact remains that suspicion is no substitute for proof in a criminal prosecution".
In another case, the High Court directed the arrest of Om Prakash and his neighbour Ved Prakash for murdering another neighbour, Thakur Singh. They have been on bail since 1996 when they appealed to the High Court against their conviction by the trial court.
The judgment by justices Ajit Bharihoke and S.K. Kaul assumes significance because they also sentenced the accused to six months in jail for defying prohibitory orders clamped in the aftermath of Indira's death.
The judges also said that it wasn't possible for the widow of slain Thakur Singh to approach police immediately and file a complaint because of the horrible situation in riot-torn Delhi when Sikhs were scared to come out.
[Courtesy: Daily News & Analysis]
December 9, 2009
Conversation about this article
1: Harjit Singh (New Delhi, India), December 09, 2009, 11:34 AM.
Amazing, isn't it? These judges found a way of using the very findings of the Commissions and Inquiries to acquit a murderer of innocents in 1984! No shame whatsoever, as these so-called purveyors of justice go about doing what they are instructed to do.
2: Gurinder Singh Johal (Amritsar, Punjab), December 11, 2009, 10:29 AM.
The words, "Rajey shee mukaddam kuttey", were said in 15th century. Today, they are apply so aptly to India.