In the Kolkata rape-murder case, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has now found a safe passage for herself. The big thing is that the BJP, which demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister, has also decided to support the anti-rape bill proposed by the West Bengal government – and this is the biggest relief for Mamata Banerjee at the moment.
But remember, justice is not a child’s play. And if you try to understand it in Dhumil’s language, then it is not at all. Dhumil has said, ‘If there is no correct logic, then there is no difference in earning a living by selling Ramnaami or by doing brokerage of %&% – and in the same way, any method of instant justice like police encounter and mob lynching, apart from the Indian judicial system, is not different from each other.
A country where the doors of the Supreme Court are opened at midnight for justice, so that no innocent is punished even due to a small mistake. Pakistani terrorists Kasab and Yakub Memon are examples of fairest trial in the Indian judicial system – and this law of natural justice is prevalent all over the world.
When noodles cannot be prepared in 2 minutes, then such a process will only be called ‘Maggi-Justice’, and how can it be justified – many such big questions arise regarding the proposed anti-rape bill of the West Bengal government.
The rape bill can certainly be called a political law, not a judicial one!
Mamata Banerjee had promised to bring a very strict law to ensure speedy justice in rape cases, and for that a two-day special session of the West Bengal Assembly has been called. A bill is to be introduced in the special session, which proposes to ensure death penalty to the rapists within 10 days. The special thing is that in this case Trinamool Congress is also getting the support of BJP.
Things like party politics and public pressure have their place, but the question is whether it is even possible to give punishment in a rape case within 10 days, let alone giving death sentence.
On hearing this question, the first reaction of Advocate-on-Record in Supreme Court, Ashwini Dubey, is that this is next to impossible… and for the Indian judicial system too… this is not good at all.
Senior advocate Ashwini Dubey says, haste in delivering justice under public pressure is completely against the principle of natural justice. In this context, while talking to aajtak.in, he also mentions the veterinary doctor rape case in Hyderabad, in which the accused were taken to the same place and killed in an encounter by the police – and later the encounter was found to be wrong in a judicial inquiry.
He explains, there are many aspects of investigation in any criminal case. What is the forensic evidence? What is in the medical report? How many accused are there? What is the role of each accused? Are all the crimes equal, or is one more and the other less? There are many such aspects that have to be looked into closely – and all the evidence has to be verified as per the set standards. This is not at all possible in ten days.
TMC got BJP’s support on rape bill
President Draupadi Murmu has also expressed concern over the Kolkata rape-murder case. Recently, the President had said, ‘Enough is enough now.’ She said that she is disappointed and horrified by the entire incident.
Speaking about the justice system at a programme, President Draupadi Murmu said, ‘It is the religious scriptures that decide what is justice and what is injustice… Faith and devotion towards justice has been a part of our tradition.’ But President Murmu has also expressed concern over the delay in getting justice. She says, ‘Pending cases and backlog are a big challenge for the judiciary… this should be given priority… and a solution should be found… I am sure that it will yield results.’
Regarding the delay in getting justice, the President said, ‘In rape cases, the decision comes in so much time… due to the delay, people feel that there is less compassion… how long will it be, 12 years, 20 years? By the time justice is delivered, life will be over… smiles will end… this should be thought about seriously.’
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is deeply embroiled in the Kolkata rape-murder case. Fuelling the protests, the BJP is demanding Mamata Banerjee’s resignation. However, Mamata Banerjee has also raised a question in her defence, ‘Have the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Manipur resigned over crimes against women in their states?’
Not only did Mamata Banerjee herself take to the streets to protest, but she also announced in a program organized on the occasion of the foundation day of the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad that a special session of the West Bengal Assembly would be called to pass a bill on rape cases. Shortly after, the cabinet meeting also approved calling a special session of the Assembly.
As a part of damage control measures, Mamata Banerjee sent her senior Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh to meet the victim’s father in the RG Kar Hospital case. Kunal Ghosh not only assured the family of taking all possible measures to get justice, but also gave clarification on behalf of the party.
Kunal Ghosh said that if Trinamool Congress has made any mistake, then efforts will be made to correct the mistake. And every possible measure will be taken to ensure justice. Later, Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee also had a meeting with Kunal Ghosh and Mamta Banerjee on this issue.
On the bill to be brought on rape, West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar has said, ‘We have decided that BJP MLAs will support Mamata Banerjee’s bill in the assembly,’ but at the same time Majumdar said that BJP MLAs will continue to protest inside the assembly demanding the resignation of Mamata Banerjee.
Not only delay, there is injustice in hasty justice too
Mamata Banerjee, who stood firm against the opposition of BJP, is now questioning the method of investigation of CBI, ‘Where is the justice?’ She says, ‘I had asked for five days to solve the case, but the matter was sent to CBI… They do not want justice, but want delay… It has been 16 days since the CBI investigation started, but where is the justice?’ The Calcutta High Court has ordered a CBI investigation in this case.
Legal experts have many doubts about Mamata Banerjee’s proposed law. In a conversation, legal experts refer to the process before a criminal is punished and say, first there is the process of investigation. A charge sheet is filed. There is a process related to how many accused there are. How many witnesses are there, or circumstantial evidence, they also have to be looked at – and all this cannot happen in one go.
A legal expert said that in criminal cases against women, trial courts often give hasty verdicts when the case gets prolonged. The result is that when the case reaches the High Court and then the Supreme Court, the flaws are exposed and despite being declared guilty, the message gets the benefit and they are let off. Meaning, haste can also bring injustice in the path of justice just like delay.
If we look at the entire Kolkata rape-murder case by separating crime and politics, then the West Bengal government also looks like the UP government. Just as UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claims to provide justice to the people by conducting police encounters and bulldozers against the alleged criminals, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also trying to make a legal arrangement for fast-trial in fast track courts, which may be seen as a legal cover kept out of the category of extra judicial killing, but that too is just a wrong way of giving it a legal cover.
In such a case, justice delivered through public pressure cannot be very different from mob justice. Politically, there may be a trend of changing the Supreme Court’s decision, but it is not fair, even if the constitutional process is followed.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)