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With Activists, Journalists Jailed for Spurious Reasons, Commentators Say Indias Chief Justice Faces Challenges — Global Issues


India’s new Chief Justice, Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud has significant challenges ahead as activists hope he will carry on with his legacy. Credits: Subhashish Panigrahi and Charmanderrulez
  • by Mehru Jaffer
  • Associated Press Service

Sanjay Kapoor, founding editor of Hardnews Magazine and political analyst told IPS that many Indian court rulings in recent times have caused deep concern.

“In the name of national security, draconian laws are introduced to limit individual freedoms. Journalists and activists were arrested and locked up under anti-terrorism laws without evidence,” Kapoor said.

He gives the example of Siddique Kappan, who spent more than two years in prison for unknown reasons. Kappan was released on bail by the Supreme Court, but anti-money laundering laws were immediately imposed on him to ensure that he remained in prison.

Kapoor’s main concern is that the government sabotage the courts, which will inevitably weaken institutions and harm democracy in India.

Meanwhile, CJI also warned that he is not here to make miracles.

“I know that’s a lot of challenges; maybe expectations are high, and I’m so grateful for your faith, but I’m not here to make miracles,” Chandrachud said after the appointment.

Challenges facing the judiciary include a backlog of cases, delays in the appointment of Supreme Court justices, and significant inconsistencies in judicial approaches.

Shortly after Chandrachud was sworn in on November 9, Chandrachud expressed concern about the long list of requests before the Supreme Court for bail. He said district judges were reluctant to issue bail fairly for fear of being targeted.

Activists say this is also the reason why media workers, political opponents and activists are languishing behind bars without bail today.

Activist Teesta Setalvad was arrested in June 2021 and her bail request was only granted three months after she was finally released. There are others, like student leader Umar Khalid, who languished in prison for more than two years.

The justice system in India is under enormous pressure. Up until this past May, countless cases were pending in courts at various levels of the judiciary. Many cases are pending in lower courts, a large percentage in High Courts, while hundreds of thousands of cases have been pending for more than 30 years. Against the backdrop of increasing litigation trends, today more and more people and organizations seek justice from the courts. However, there are not enough judges to hear the cases. The courts are overwhelmed, and the backlog of cases makes them very nervous.

The reluctance to bail out political opponents in particular only exacerbates the problem. Most recently, Sanjay Raut, a senior leader of the opposition party, said that he had lost 10 kg while in prison. Legislature charged with money laundering. He spent 100 days in prison before being released on bail in November. He was held in a dark cell where he had not seen sunlight for 15 days.

Raut said he would not have been arrested if he had surrendered to the will of the ruling party and remained a dumb audience to the political situation of the time. He wondered if only those who opposed the political line of the ruling party would continue to be arrested.

The use of the justice system as a political tool and the reluctance to grant bail at the district level have left the superior judicial body clogged with too many cases.

“The reason the superior judicial authorities are flooded with bail applications is because the basis is reluctant to release bail, and why the judges are reluctant to release bail is not because they do not have the capacity to understand the crime. They probably know the crime better than many higher court judges because they know at the grassroots level what is wrong with the counties, but there’s a sense of fear that if I release my bail, someone will target me tomorrow. me on that basis. released on bail in a heinous case. This sense of fear no one talks about but we must face because if we don’t, we will render our district courts useless and our higher courts useless. effective,” said Chandrachud at an event organized by the Bar Council of India last week to honor his appointment as the country’s 50th CJI.

The Supreme Court of India is perhaps the most powerful Court in the world. However, in recent times, the judiciary has been criticized for its uneven handling of cases. It is under scrutiny for the inconsistencies found in its operations. The fact that a former CJI accepted a seat in the upper house of parliament shortly after his retirement two years ago raised eyebrows.

The judicial authority’s consideration of the current government is a major concern, including the ongoing arrest of political opponents and the practice of refusing bail for those arrested. On the other hand, the ruling party’s ‘friends’ are allowed to get away with murder and rape.

The nation was shocked after a document was released last October that demonstrated the early release of 11 men convicted of the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family during the riot. The 2002 Gujarat riots were approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs despite the objections of some. special court. Communist Party of India (Marxist) member Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul and Professor Roop Rekha Verma jointly filed a public interest lawsuit (PIL) against amnesty for 11 convicts. The sentence was released on August 15, the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence Day this year on account of good behavior.

Bano was gang raped along with 14 members of her family. Her 3-year-old daughter Saleha was killed by a mob in a village in Gujarat province when they were fleeing community violence in 2002. Bano was 19 years old and five months pregnant at the time. Shobha Gupta, Bano’s lawyer, has been fighting for years to get justice for the rape survivor. Gupta told Barkha Dutt, a senior journalist, that she was heartbroken and couldn’t face Bano. That after her rapists were released from custody, Bano was silent and felt lonely.

Dutt interviewed Bano 20 years ago. Today, she wrote in her column that an indescribable injustice is taking place with blatant impunity. Its legitimacy is dodgy. Dutt said, “Raise hell”.

After those who raped Bano and killed her child were freed, they were greeted outside the prison with candy and wreaths. This is the story of a country that is seriously ill, says commentator Jawed Naqvi.

“The nation calling for the execution of men who raped a young woman on a bus in Delhi in 2012 seems unconcerned with Bilkis’ trauma,” Naqvi wrote. was bullied in silence at a time when most politicians had adopted the principles.”

So who will give justice to citizens like Bano?

Supreme Court?

In a plea by Azam Khan last July, the opposition party leader pointed to a new trend among the high courts of imposing unnecessary bail conditions. Khan said that a high court ordered the politician to hand over the alleged encroachment as a condition of his release. The ruling was overturned.

Seeking justice these days is difficult in the courts and outside.

Khan, 74, has been behind bars since early 2020. Various charges have been brought against him, including corruption, theft and land appropriation, to ensure that he remains behind bars with the crime. this or that crime. However, Khan was released on temporary bail last May. A few months later, he was fined and sentenced to three more years in prison for a hate speech in 2019. At the time, Khan was accused of blaming the Prime Minister for creating a difficult atmosphere. country. for Muslims, the largest minority community in India, to live.

A new report published by the US-based NGO Council on Minority Rights in India (CMRI) and released on 20 November at the Press Club of New Delhi shows that By helping offenders, detaining victims and not registering first information reports (FIRs) in some cases, law enforcement agencies play a role in promoting crime. evil hatred.

Discussing the legal aspects of the crackdown, lawyer Kawalpreet Kaur said that minorities are facing state retribution to varying degrees. Pogrom cases against Muslims during the Delhi riots have been brought to the high court for the past two years.

“Indian courts need to keep their eyes and ears open; it’s not a one-off case when Afree Fatima’s house was razed or when the stalls of working-class Muslims were razed in Delhi even though the court was adjourned.” she said.

Lawyers call it an attack by the Indian state against its minorities and a disinformation and anti-Muslim campaign that is witnessed daily.

The release of the CMRI report comes at a time when many countries and organizations are calling on India to pay attention to the plight of religious minorities.

Six international human rights groups – International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), Global Christian Solidarity (CSW), International Dalit Solidarity Network, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reminded New Delhi in a joint statement that it has yet to implement the recommendations in a recent United Nations report on India, which mentioned Topics include protecting minorities and human rights defenders, maintaining civil liberties, etc.

“The Government of India should promptly adopt and act on the recommendations made by UN member states at the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council on 10 November. ,” the joint statement read.

Report of the UN IPS Office


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© Inter Press Service (2022) — All rights reservedOrigin: Inter Press Service

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