Trial and Terror

The last few weeks have indeed been the 'legal' era. Three high profile dignitories were convicted, in quick succession, Sanjay Dutt, Sibhu Soren and Navjot Sidhu. One of them almost snatched away the coveted death sentence. Each of those cases was different from the other. As we all could not be personally present and follow the cases in detail, the media took upon itself with reluctance ( a unabashed sense of gusto) the duty of keeping the common man informed ( biased). As a result the subtle distinctions in principles chistled by years of laborious preparation by the best legal brains over the last few centuries in UK and India, were reduced to a nought.

The cacaphonous Sidhu was convicted for Culpable Homicide; whereas the Sadhu-like Sibhu Soren was convicted for Murder. Even though, the need to try them and punish them was that they caused the death of a person, it is surprising to a lot of non-lawyers that Sidhu while striking a blow, which took Gurnam's life was infact committing a lesser crime than Soren, who plotted to kill Jha.

The problem with trial by media is that they seem to suggest

1.Sidhu was convicted for Murder, while it was not so.
2.Sanjay Dutt was acquitted, while infact only that the charges framed under TADA were not proved beyond reasonable doubt, but he was convicted under the Arms Act and could receive a longer sentence than the 3 years that Sidhu got.


What worries me is that the Media is trying a lot of other cases along side the courts of law. To those who are at the wrong end of the not-so-friendly stick, the days to come are going to be TRIAL and TERROR.

While Priyadarshini Mattoo's killer got the gallows, two more are fighting the trial in 2 courts simultaneously. In the courtroom and your drawing room. Vikas Yadav and Manu Sharma await their turn.

Detailed Analysis in my next post. Wait and read.