Why Condemn Them Unheard?

When the Jammu and Kashmir High Court celebrated its diamond jubilee lastweek, it was virtually a two day jashan. From  President APJ Kalam,to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and senior judges, a number of legalluminaries attended the gala function. It was encomium time, with nothing butpraise showered on J&K judiciary. Everyone, from President Kalam to thedeputy chief minister Muzfar Hussin Baigh, applauded the role of the judiciaryin strengthening the roots of democracy and fair play in the state. Rightlyso. 

The very presence of the President, Chief Justice of India and all those whohave earned a name for themselves in legal and judicial fields speaks volumesabout the importance of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in the Indian judicialsystem. The President made special mention of the efforts of the state judiciaryin ensuring that justice reaches the ordinary person without any delay. ChiefJustice of India, besides other things, reminded the audience, mostly the judgesand judicial officers, of the importance assigned to liberty of the citizens inthe constitution. He took great pains to emphasise that any person, chargedunder criminal provisions, howsoever serious those might be, has to be treatedas innocent until the charges are proved against him. 

It would seem, however, that the Chief Justice is not properly briefed aboutthe 'distinct' situation that is prevailing in the state, especially Kashmirvalley as far as the concepts of liberty and fair play is concerned. Kashmir,right from the day Dogra rule ended, has a different dictionary for suchphrases. Here, the mighty executive, with the help of  ever-obliging policeand other security agencies, has all along ensured that justice is denied to allthose from whom the executive or for that matter the political establishmentfaces even a very small threat. There are hundreds and thousand of examples ofthis strong arm policy of the state in which it seems has even hoodwinked the entirejudicial process.

Surely, the Chief Justice of India should have been informed about at leastsome of the high-profile cases? Say, how the dreaded Public Safety Act, lawwhich we were told had been enacted to curb timber smuggling, was invokedagainst the then president of Kashmir Motor Drivers Association (KMDA), GhulamNabi and few others? For the crime that they dared to challenge the might ofShiekh Abdullah in 1977 elections. Or that Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami was detainedunder the same Act, just because National Conference got afraid of his growingpopularity in the Kulgam belt of south Kashmir?

Of the recent times, there are far too many cases which, if one startscounting, can produce a multi volume book. Perhaps someone should have at leastbriefed the Chief Justice and the President about how Farooq Ahmad alias BittaKaratey, charged with many serious offences, has been languishing in prisons forlast 16 years when all courts, including the Supreme Court, have ordered hisrelease on bail, but the mighty executive, which day in and day out swears bythe majesty of the judicial process, sees to it that judicial orders are treatedwith contempt? Or about Bilal Sidique, another youth, although granted bail bythe court, who has not been able to come out of the prison and is shifted fromone police station to other.

Although the judicial system in India has undergone a sea change in recentyears, it seems that these winds of change find it difficult to cross thetreacherous Banihal pass. While in other states, stress is being laid onproviding speedy justice to the people, in Kashmir we still have cases that arepending for decades together. Last year, the High Court did take a majorinitiative in taking justice to the very door steps of the people and cuttingthe rising costs of trials. This experiment was successfully made with regard tothe earthquake related relief cases and people of Uri and Karnah did appreciatethe efforts made by the judiciary.

One expected that the area of such experiments would be widened and similarsteps will be taken at other places as well, but, unfortunately, nothing of thatsort has happened so far. The result is that a large number of people aresuffering at the alter of delayed justice. The most glaring is the recent racketinvolving prostitution in some parts of Kashmir. A number of people have beenarrested in this connection and all of them are languishing in prison for abouttwo months. Without going into the nature of the charges against the accused,the fact remains that charges against many, as divulged in the CBI charge sheet,fall within the category of 'bailable offences' and the accused have the rightto seek their release on bail. However this right has been denied to them andthey have virtually been condemned unheard, even as in the eye of the law theycontinue to be innocent till the charges are proved against them and they areheld guilty by the court of law.

At the time of arrest of these accused, an impression was given by the CBI,through media, as if all of them deserved the gallows. But when one goes throughthe charges levelled against them, it looks, on the face of it, that thesehapless people, though of high profile, have been framed and the case againstthem is more political than criminal. While on one hand CBI is playing truant asfar as implementing the directions of the court to effect the trial of 'bigfish, which are neck-deep involved in flesh trade', on the other hand, the courtalso does not come to the rescue of those who have been subjected to a mediatrial and have been publicly condemned, without giving them a chance to defendthemselves.

There is an old saying that justice should not only be done, but it shouldalso seem to have been done In the present case, one earnestly expects from thehonourable court and the highly conscious judges to follow the implementation ofthe law in letter and spirit, and deliver justice in its true manner.