I HAVE FULL FAITH IN OUR LEGAL SYSTEM

by Col (Retd) TN Raman

In our country, those who have faith in our Courts of Justice, are never let down.  A number of examples can be quoted. But, let us take just two cases. Two ladies, both Politicians, one is presently the Chief Minister (CM) of Tamilnadu, and the other previous CM of UP.

 The great Political satirist, Cho Ramaswamy, has written a short parable on the Mayawati’s case, in his magazine, Thuglak.

  “There was a burglary in a big bungalow. Due to a lot of controversies, the Supreme Court (SC) had taken up the case and ordered CBI to investigate.  The CBI while investigating the case found out that the accused of the Bungalow burglary was also involved in a case of Bank Robbery. Therefore, the CBI started investigating both the cases. After investigation, the CBI files FIR (First Information Report) on both the cases. But, the SC comes down heavily on the CBI for exceeding its brief. The honourable Judges pointed out, “How can you investigate on the Bank Robbery, when we had tasked you to investigate only the Bungalow burglary? You have exceeded your authority. Hence we quash the FIR on the Bank Robbery.”

 In support of the verdict, some legal pundits argue that the SC did not say that the accused who had committed the Bungalow Burglary did not commit the Bank Robbery. It only pointed out that the CBI should not have linked both the cases and submitted before the Court. Therefore, the CBI can still pursue the case of Bank Robbery and file a separate FIR afresh. The present verdict has not declared the accused as innocent.

 Let us see the case of Mayawati. The SC had ordered CBI to register an FIR and enquire into the Taj Corridor case, on 18 September 2003. On 5 October 2003, the CBI registered two cases, No 18 relating to the Taj Corridor and No 19 relating to Disproportionate Assets (DA) under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

 The Taj Corridor case failed. The Governor of UP, TV Rajeshwar, in June 2007, in his 23 page order, had stated that the 17 crore was sanctioned by the Central Govt through the PSU. Therefore, no case.  Though the advocates challenged the Governor’s Order, the Special Judge refused to take cognisance, since the CBI kept silent, because only the Law Ministry can permit it to challenge the Governor’s order. The political environment at that time required Mayawati’s support to UPA.

  As for the second case, No 19 on DA, Mayawati had challenged the same in the Allahabad High Court. On 22 October 2003, the Court only directed that she should not be arrested till the investigations were over.  In addition, the SC itself, when a case was filed for the status report on the cases, on 19 July 2004, gave directions to the CBI, to complete investigations on case No 18 ( Taj corridor) in 8 weeks and for Case No 19, (the DA case) in three months.

 According to CBI, the assets of Mayawati increased fifty fold, from one Crore in 2003 to 50 crore in 2007. In 2012, as per her own affidavit filed along with her nomination papers for Rajya Sabha, her wealth stands at 111.64 crores.

 After 9 years of labour, why should SC quash the FIR itself?  I am an ignorant Indian. But, I know that those who have faith in our Judiciary are never let down. If anyone has doubt, kindly cross  check this statement with Mayawati, Jayalalitha, A Raja, Kanimozhi, Karunanidhi, Kalmadi, Maran brothers, Ambanis....... sorry the list is very very long. Suffice to say that I have faith in the Judiciary. But, where to go for finances?  I am told that the present market price is very steep. Even to get a bail you have to shell out 6 crorers. Ask, Reddy brothers of Karnataka for guidance.