Author: Satya Sarma
Publication: India-Forum.com
Date: December 12, 2004
URL: http://www.india-forum.com/IF_Journal/Indian_Politics/A_Simple_Demand_For_Justice/25/
In an interview to rediff.com, Prosecutor
for Tamil Nadu, KTS Tulsi said of those who show support for the Kanchi
Sri Sankaracharya: "For them, a Brahmin is above the law." Ignore for now
the fallacy that a sanyasi is bound by varna - that is a question, I am
unqualified to discuss. There is something else there that Mr. Tulsi got
wrong. It is not that we claim our Dharmacharya to be above the law. It
is just that the Law has sunk so low. By forsaking the solid ground of
truth, the Law has slipped into a gutter where it lies unworthy of any
respect or of even a second look.
After claiming to have "shocking
and solid" evidence, the Law and its guardians have, time and time again,
been proven outright liars. The testimony they claimed clinched the Acharya's
guilt turns out to be a litany of lies forced out under torture. They have
failed to produce the purported key conspirators who link the Acharya to
the crime. Not that we can believe any testimony they claim to elicit from
witnesses in their custody anyway.
Mr. Tulsi himself has been caught
in a lie. In open courts, Mr. Tulsi got up and said that a 'deserted' woman
he implied was linked to the Acharya was involved in the murder, and had
absconded with lakhs. This woman's apprehension was essential to the investigation,
said he.
That woman turned out to be one
of the millions of the sick and destitute whom the Kanchi Sankaracharya
has given help and solace to. And Mr. Tulsi turned out to be a slanderous
liar.
Then, from the gutter, came the
bizarre procession of new accusations, trumpeted by sensational headlines.
There were cases from two years ago, and twelve years ago and twenty years
ago. All from a band of lawmen who have not been able to sniff out a trail
that is two months old! The Accusers promised skeletons would fall out
of the Kanchi Acharya's closet. Instead, it is the Prosecution that is
parading out the ghouls.
So far, all that has been proven
is that the law-enforcers are themselves liars, capable of unthinkable
violence and cruelty. Frankly, they seem more likely murderers than the
man they accuse. One of their witnesses came to court with a broken hand;
the other described how his teeth were broken to extract false testimony.
It turns out the chief investigator
has a long and documented history of such inhuman abuse. He's even been
convicted by a court of law. He disdains that court's verdict against him.
It was passed, he says, by only one biased judge, (neglecting to mention
the more than eighty eye-witnesses that judge relied on). But he is quite
happy submitting Sankaracharya before that very same court. And a verdict
denying bail to an elderly person who has served people selflessly his
entire life, that judgment could not possibly be biased, oh never!
The charges that SP Prem Kumar tortured
people, intimidated witnesses and filed false cases - he claims these are
scurrilous allegations raked up by supporters of the Acharya who want to
derail the law. Oddly enough, the human rights magazine reporting his past
record had lifted not a finger to help the Acharya. Also, they published
their article on SP Prem Kumar the month before the Acharya's surprising
arrested. But why should facts get in the way of a confirmed liar like
Prem Kumar?
The Chief Minister outdid them all.
Having publicly pronounced the Sankaracharya guilty of murder, she gave
those expected to be called as witnesses against him Five hundred thousand
in currency. No doubt, this is an act of generosity never to be questioned,
whereas if Sankaracharya's organization gives a penniless woman some 5
or 10,000 rupees as charity, it is a certain sign of something illicit!
The CM's tampering is so egregious
that it eclipses the allegations by two other accused that the identification
line-up was tainted, as the police openly coached witnesses.
A week or so ago, columnist S.Gurumurthy
asked who was going to do the funeral for this case. It turns out the secular
guardians of law are not above beating a dead horse. I asked in my last
article, who are these people to judge a jagatguru? Well, now we have our
answer. They are the ones with the whip hand. That is all.
They can haul anyone in, any time,
for questioning. Should a journalist poke holes in their case (it's hard
not to), out comes the whip: be prepared for a grilling. If supporters
should enter the mutt, out comes the whip: be prepared to be searched.
If witnesses relate facts that contravene their theories, out comes the
whip: they are threatened with prosecutions.
What is their reaction to anyone
whose testimony indicates the Acharya's innocence? Out with the whip! Srirangam
Usha destroys their theory of misconduct with truth and the very next day
we hear the police plan to arrest her on a two-year old case they never
bothered to book her for in the first place! Mythili Raghavan destroys
the fanciful fabrications of another accuser; lo and behold, the police
tell the press they will press charges against her!
Today, the sole source of the Law's
authority is the use of force. For the Law and its guardians have conceded
moral authority. The rulers of our land , who claim the Acharya is too
dangerous to be given bail, persuade the courts that tainted politicians
should be allowed to write the law of the land. If the people protest that
the process is corrupted, the answer returns that only the corrupt can
ask for an investigation into their corruption.This is how the Home Minister
responded to concerned Tamil Nadu legislators.
To the guardians of law, the truth
is not even an afterthought; it is irrelevant. They have lost all credibility,
and we can no longer believe them.
And so, in desperation, what do
they do? The same tainted policemen fabricate yet another confession. Yes,
another confession that is denied flatly by the witness. This disputed
'confession' cannot be evidence, but they deliberately leak excerpts to
selected members of the press. They do not bother to authenticate this
purported confession. They do not bother to elucidate the context or the
circumstances; they do not even care to disclose the entire sum of it.
Nothing they disclosed would ever be stilted toward their version of events:
we are to take Prem Kumar and Tulsi's word for it! In a trial by the media,
the accusers do not have to face the accused.
Excuse me, but when the Acharya
himself- who for the past fifty years has been a fount of wisdom and compassion
for millions- says he hasn't confessed, and prolific liars say he has,
it's isn't tough to choose who to believe!
Every fundamental principle of Justice
has been violated when it comes to the Sankaracharya. And the violators
have been the people deputed to render Justice through the Law.
The first and foremost principle
of justice is the presumption of innocence. This is not a mere technicality
in the law. It is a fundamental principle that has existed in every civilized
human society from Hammurabi's Babylon to the United States of America.
Near Kanchipuram, in Madurai, our own ancestors have a story that teaches
this principle.
Yet, from the very beginning, the
Public Prosecutor of Tamil Nadu labeled the accused a criminal. In the
very interview in which he accused supporters of flouting the Law, Tulsi
contravened this essential principle of Justice. He publicly passed his
verdict on the Sankaracharya: guilty, even before the charges were drafted!
In a few days' time, it was the Chief Minister's turn. Before the police
had bothered to complete their enquiries, she publicly declared the Acharya
a murderer.
Finally, the High Court justice
himself, before hearing a single witness or considering a shred of evidence,
even before any date has been set for trial, announced in his public decision
the judgment that there was reasonable evidence of Sankaracharya's guilt!
Without ever considering the merits of the case, he jumped to this conclusion.
In the case of any person, justice
demands that the burden of proof of guilt should lie with the accuser.
In the case of someone who has dedicated his life to service and charity,
how much greater that burden should be! Is it just to pronounce our Dharmacharya
guilty before he is even charged?
The second principle of justice
is that the accused be given every opportunity to defend himself against
his accusers. This, the Supreme Court of the Land has said, is so important,
that bail should be the rule, denial the exception, because it holds that
granted bail, a presumably innocent person is far better able to prepare
his defense.
But the Acharya's bail hearings
have each dragged on for weeks. Bail has been denied, first on the flimsy
charge that he might escape; then on the judgment that he was guilty before
the charges were framed.
To prepare his defense, the accused
must be given adequate access to counsel. Yet, the Sankaracharya was not
given benefit of counsel on multiple occasions: not at the time of his
arrest in Chennai, not before his remand hearing, not before his first
bail application, and not during his interrogation.
To prepare his defense, the accused
must be disclosed all the evidence against him. To prepare his defense,
the accused must be able to question witnesses freely. How can this occur
when the police are harassing any witness who might support his case? How
can this occur when the Law is tampering with witnesses by buying those
who are to testify for them and bullying those who would testify in favor
of the accused?
Our demand, Mr. Tulsi, is a simple
one: Justice!
We demand out Dharmacharya be presumed
innocent. Stop smearing him with your lies and manipulations!
We demand that our Dharmacharya
be given every opportunity to prepare his defense. Consent to bail for
him, and ensure he has adequate assistance of counsel.
We demand you stop intimidating
supporters, coaching witnesses, and manufacturing "evidence". Stop cracking
your whip at us because your lies have unraveled.
Or is it, Mr. Tulsi, that for you,
a saffron-clad sanyasi is beneath Justice.
Every evidence brought forward of
the Acharya's guilt has crumbled before the world's eyes. But the Prosecution
presses on with blind fervor. Enough is enough!
Upon Sankaracharya's arrest a month
ago, a Tamil magazine proclaimed "Justice has died there." Justice is the
reason the Law exists. When Justice itself has died, why should the Law
remain?
This was the principle that Kannagi
invoked, when Pandiyaraaj - a ruler extolled for his fairness, executed
her husband on false charges. The reputed Raaj that committed that one
injustice burst into flames. This is a different era, in which ill-doers
seem to flourish.
But there is a flame burning in
the hearts of millions who watch this injustice continue. It is not the
angry flame that burned down Madurai. It is a quiet, white-hot flame that
burns away all impurity. This Raaj ignores it at its own peril.
