Judge On Trial

When Jawahar Lal Choudhary, district and sessions judge of Gaya, sentenced four Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) men to death in connection with the massacre of 32 upper-caste villagers of Bara, he had no idea that he would be ‘awarded’ the same punishment. The MCC held its jan adalat and ‘awarded’ capital punishment to Choudhary. Handwritten posters have appeared in the countryside announcing the death sentence. Choudhary, who now lives in Bokaro with his son, has been running from pillar to post to get security but to no avail. His problems have compounded after he retired on June 30.