THE FOOL- PROOF JUDGMENT (A SHORT STORY)

The defense counsel leaned forward in his chair to listen carefully to each word being uttered by her Lordship, Mrs. Ranjana Yadav, in a husky, baritone voice. The Prosecutor winked at the Defense counsel, a bit naughtily, as if conveying some coded message to him. The judge had begun:

“This case had generated more than required media interest, though I doubt it merits so much attention. But I suppose in the INFORMATION AGE, every one wants to create information out of information. We, as a society, are becoming slaves of spicy tidbits which media excels in generating”, her lordship had taken the dig at new found ‘Media Activism’ as a rejoinder, probably, to counter media concocted phrase of ‘Judicial Activism’.

In all fairness, the judge was disturbed with the unwanted hype being given by the media on the Stampeding of some pedestrians by a MERCEDES CAR driven by the son of a top business man of Haryana in the year 2001. Mrs. Ranjana Yadav, the trial judge of the case was known for social graces and sociability. She was the most popular judge amongst the high court lawyers. Soft spoken, suave and dignified, she was known for good behavior both inside and outside the court. She never interrupted a lawyer during his arguments of a case. Generally, all high profile cases of politicians, business men and bureaucrats were handled by her being the senior most judge of the High court.

The judge had resumed after some time. She spoke for about hour and a half. She did not pronounce any judgment but reserved her judgment till 5 PM because she wanted to consider various angles. In this session she had allowed the defence and prosecution to close their arguments. She had said, “-----------------------Take this case of Mercedes car allegedly over running a few pedestrians------I am afraid--------I ------- some conclusions because------------ O K--- I reserve my verdict till 5 PM, today. It is 11 AM, now; I have six hours to write my judgment. The Court is adjourned till then”, the Judge, Mrs. Ranjana Yadav had declared and moved into her chambers.



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The present case involved the grand-son of a business tycoon of Haryana—a neo rich, who had a typical ‘rag to riches story’. He had risen from Mr. NOBODY to Mr. BUSYBODY over the last 17 years of liberalization of Indian economy. Mr. Niranjan Bansal, the business man, was a street hawker till about 20 years back. He used to sell CHAAT (spicy fast food) near Chandigarh bus stand in sector-17. His clientage varied from the Rickshaw pullers to coolies and daily wagers. A rickshaw puller, Sohan Singh had become his friend sometimes in 1990. Sohan Singh, used to keep his money with him. Though, he was a rickshaw puller but he used to get a lot of money from somewhere, which he often told Niranjan that it had come from his relatives in Canada. Niranjan had always wondered on this but never questioned Sohan Singh. He used this money for starting his own small business of selling readymade garments. His two sons, Virender and Jatinder began to help him in this business. Both of them had not attended the school beyond 8th class.

Then one day Sohan Singh disappeared. No one knows what happened to him. Some say, he was a terrorist, who lived under the guise of a rickshaw puller and he went out of the country to escape arrest. Police had questioned Niranjan on this two or three time. Niranjan always showed his ignorance of Sohan Singh to the policemen. He had told the police that Sohan Singh was one of his regular customers and nothing else. Some say, Sohan Singh had been killed by the police in an encounter. But the most popular story was that he was a drug-peddler and he often visited Pakistan in this connection. It was rumored that Niranjan and his two sons were his equal partners in smuggling of drugs. He was last seen with Jatinder and Virender at Jallandhar Bus Stand, some 18 years back. It seemed they had betrayed him.

The garment business of Niranjan and his two sons had flourished and they became rich. They diversified their business and became property dealers. Politicians, Bureaucrats and all big-wigs of society, in Northern India, were at their beck and call. They had fleet of Mercedes cars. All this was acquired within the last 15-16 years. Some questioned their business ethics but they say, in the India of today, who cared for ethics? Jatinder had a son, Surinder Bansal---a 26 years old school drop out. He was fond of fast driving in his Mercedes—presented to him by his father. One day, in the evening of September 21 2001, near the 17 sector Chandigarh bus stand, he over ran some pedestrians with his Mercedes. He was arrested but let off by the police for lack of evidence. However, under media and public pressure the police had to reopen the case and charge him with negligible driving leading to death of five persons. The case had lingered on for seven years. Many witnesses had turned hostile. Some had disappeared. Some others found their names having been deleted. The general accusation was that MONEY BAGS of "BANSALS" had done the trick. But there were no 'proofs' and evidences for such claims.

It was this case that the judge, Mrs. Ranjana Yadav was going to give her judgment, today. The court room was full of media, both from electronic and print. The media people shrugged their shoulders when judge made a caustic remark on the media. None protested, as media people knew they had been somewhat guilty of 'Media-Trials' . When the learned judge had spoken there was a pin drop silence. The case had created a lot of media and public interest. Everyone wanted to know whether truth would prevail or it would be buried deep under the weight of money due to hostile witnesses and lack of identification of Surinder Bansal, the accused driver of Mercedes.

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Suneet Garg, the defense counsel of Surinder Bansal, was in his chamber when his mobile rang. It was Jatinder Bansal who wanted to know the progress of the case.

Suneet replied, “The court has been adjourned till 5 PM. The honorable judge has reserved her judgment till then.”

“Sab theek hai Na. Packet Pahunch gaye kya?”(Is everything all right? Have the packets reached?” Jatinder had enquired.

“I will check with MIKE for those two packets. Om Parkash was properly briefed by me. Rests of the packets are with me. How much is her packet weighing? It should be nothing less than 25 Kg.” Suneet had responded.

“Dekh lo bhai. Mere ko bataa dena ki mil gaye hain” Jatinder disconnected the mobile so saying.

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Mohit kaushal had a hectic day. As a public prosecutor his life was very busy. He wanted to just sleep in his cabin till 4.30 PM before the court reassembled. As he closed his eyes, his mobile rang up. It was his lawyer friend, Sunny, on the other side.

“Mohit, yaar, there was a lot of harangues by the boss, today. CHHORI KE SAATH SETTING HAI NA; DHOKHA TOH NAHI DEGI (I hope you have a good equation with this girl. Hope she won’t ditch). I am a bit suspicious. Will everything be OK?” sunny was saying.

“Yes, yes! Do not worry. She had to make this noise to silence these “JHOLHE-WALLAS” (persons carrying bags like the journalists) you see. Tanne packets toh bhej diye na? Arre, bahut pahunchi hui cheez hai yeh aurat. Agar packet nahi mila to sara kara dhara mitti mein mil jayega. Jhat plaatty maar legi. Fir manne Na kehna.“ (Have you sent the packets? This lady is very fast. If she did not get the packet she will turn the tables on you. Then, don’t blame me.).Mohit advised.

“Yes, it is 25 Kg. Apples” Sunny informed.

“How about my 10 kg?” Mohit checked up.

“It is on the way. Om Parkash, my PA, will be reaching you any time. He was to go first to the madam’s residence and then come to you.” Sunny had clarified.

“Ok. Please note, she will wait till 4.30 PM and then make up her mind. If she does not get the apples by then, you know what might happen” Mohit warned and switched off.

Exactly at 4.20 PM, Mohit’s mobile rang again. It was the court room orderly. He asked,” Sir, madam is asking if you would be ready by 4.30 PM?”

“Yes, yes! We will be ready. I have sent all the documents with my final arguments to madam‘s residence. My messenger OM Parkash would have reached her.” Mohit had replied. But the orderly replied,” Madam is at her residence only. No one has reached so far. She will leave for the court in next five minutes.” The court room orderly had so informed Mohit and disconnected.

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The court reassembled exactly at 5PM. The trial judge had resumed her address. She went on, “I am a person of law. I do not go by emotions and human passions, certainly not by media created pyramid of reasons and counter-reasons. It is not required and the law does not approve of it. All the same, one must remember, judges are also human beings. They, too, have emotions—both positive and negative. They also react, over-react, and under-react on every piece of information finding its way into the ‘Gossip-Bazaar ‘of media. But all this is within our selves. Our emotions do not and can not spill out of us. There have been times when I get sick of irresponsible arguments. I never understand as to why each one of us views issues in an isolated manner and not in a holistic manner. Security forces only think of security; Media only of information; politicians only of politics and lawyers only of legalities. Why can not we debate in our inner-self about the impact of our intended act on the other limbs of society and the polity? Why don’t we define our limits to check us from being dubbed as irresponsible in pursuing single-minded objective? Shouldn’t we say, “Thus far I go, for, territory beyond this is a prohibited area?” Notwithstanding our well-meaning intentions and motives, but as members of a civilized and a dignified society, we are lacking in self-discipline and self-restraints. Take this case”, the judge said with a deep sigh and then continued:

“I have tried my best to keep my personal feelings out of it. As a judge, my job demands a hard solid evidence to separate the chaff from wheat. I can not go by inferred logic and say, “Lo, behold! It is QED.” That is a mathematician’s job. I am not here to enhance my judicial TRP to swim along with popular sentiments. Well! It is the domain of the TV channels and they are welcome to try all the tricks up their sleeves. As a judge and upholder of our laws, I must note that THE ERRORS LIKE STRAWS UPON THE SURFACE FLOW, THOSE WHO ARE IN SEARCH OF TRUTH MUST DIVE BELOW. I, therefore, had to do deep-sea diving in this raging sea of arguments and counter arguments; followed by counter-counter arguments and counter-counter-counter arguments. I had to sift the real evidence from the heap of non-evidence. I am bound by this evidence in coming to certain conclusions on this case. It might disappoint some and cheer up others. But as I have already said I am not here for a popularity contest”, her lordship stopped a while to take a few sips of water and then resumed.

“My judgment runs into 143 typed pages. I am going to read only the operative parts of my judicial verdict. It is a unique case. I find the police and the prosecution lacking in their role. Alfred Hitchcock, the doyen of Horror Movies, had said, ‘I AM NOT ANTI –POLICE BUT I AM AFRAID OF POLICE.’ Is it true in our case, too? I feel our investigating agency has somewhat slipped deliberately or carelessly but it does not mean that the accused was totally innocent. The way this case has gone, a question kept nibbling at my conscience during the hearing and it was: Is our legal system fool proof? I have been reading about the debate raging across the length and breadth of the country.

In my way of thinking, it was a non-issue. The debate is meaningless. The institutions of a society are its mirror-image. All institutes, social, political, legal, military and whatever function like a computer---GIGO---GARBAGE IN; GARBAGE OUT. Who are the people practicing law in India? They are all Indians? No one has come from heavens or GOD's own country. So, the LEGAL SYSTEM IS THE MIRROR OF OUR SOCIETY. Why blame judges, lawyers and the investigating agencies? INDIA, THEY SAY IS BIG CONSUMER MARKET. Everything here is on sale, from law to moralities. Whatever happens in our society, is also reflected in our judicial life. There will be temptations and lurements but it depends on individuals if they can resist the temptations or not—whether simple policemen or the lawyers or even the judges. I am afraid I can not allow the high and mighty of the society get away by using their money power.” She looked at the prosecutor, Mohit Kaushal, who was stunned.
He knew something has gone wrong. He looked at the defense counsel who stood nonplussed. The accused was shocked. The judge was saying things what was not expected. This sudden talk of moralities had convinced everyone that something was wrong. There were loud whispers in the court room.
The judge ordered silence and continued her address, “As I said, the accused has committed a serious crime. Despite all out efforts by everyone to save him, he is guilty though not conclusively but circumstantial evidence can not be ignored. Five people have been killed a mercedes over running them. We know who owns the Mercedes in the region. Though he has been helped by the poor investigations and faulty prosecution but there are eye witnesses who had seen the mercedes with the said number. Technically, he might say he was innocent but there was enough evidence to prove that he drove the car on the fateful day. It has been admitted by his co-accused. I therefore hold him guilty of rash and negligent driving which lead to the loss of five valuable lives. I sentence him to seven years rigorous imprisonment.” So saying judge had disappeared into her chambers. Every one was shocked. Mohit Kaushal was totally at a loss. He guessed that the apples might not have reached in time.



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It was six PM and Mohit was getting ready to leave his office, when he found an Inspector of Chandigarh police along with Om Parkash, Suneet’s PA, entering his office. Om Parkash was hand cuffed. When he heard the story from the police Inspector, Mohit denied everything about it. He just said “I don’t know. This is nonsense. It is ridiculous. You better check with Suneet Garg”

The police inspector had informed that Mr. Om Parkash had delivered a packet containing Rs 25 Lakhs at the residence of Justice Ranjana Singh, saying the packet has been sent from Karnal. He had another packet which was to be delivered to Mr Mohit Kaushal. It had contained Rs. 10 lakhs. On enquiry it was found out that the packets were given by Mr. Suneet Garg, the defence Counsel of Surinder Bansal. This is what Mohit Kaushal had denied.

“The Tribune Times” a Chandigarh daily, carried an article on 22 September 2008, where the correspondent, Mr. Naveen Malhotra, had alleged that there was corruption in the judiciary. The COURT CASES WERE GENERALLY FIXED by the PROSECUTOR and THE DEFENCE COUNSELS. Besides this case, he had also cited the case of TWO FAMOUS DELHI LAWYERS who had been found guilty by the Supreme Court for FIXING the CBI CASES. He had , therefore, claimed that money bags can buy justice in India, while poor were sent to jail on flimsy grounds. He quoted JESSICA LAL MURDER CASE where attempt was made to hoodwink the law but for the media and the public.
The same thing had happened in the BMW, hit and run case of New Delhi. The article had alleged that Rs 25 lakhs delivered at Justice Ranjana Singh’s place was a mistake. Probably, it was meant to be delivered at Justice Ranjana Yadav’s residence, who was the trial judge of Surinder Bansal, grandson of business tycoon, Niranjan Bansal of Karnal. Naveen had stated that a simple error of the PA of Suneet Garg, the defense Counsel, led to this major faux pax.

The concluding remarks of NAVEEN were that it seemed the LAST BASTION OF MORALITY IN INDIA WAS ALSO COLLAPSING. According to him, the courts had become the PLAYGROUNDS OF FIXERS and PERSONS with MONEY BAGS. He had unabashedly stated that JUSTICE in India, not only can be manipulated but can also be purchased. He had contended that we were having a legal system with serious LOOP HOLES. Justice just leaks out of them. God save the common man---------------------------------. The article went on to give various details of cases of corruption against judiciary from lowest level to highest level.--------------- it was, also, alleged that some people at the lower level in the judicial service might have connections with underworld, too. Recently, a metropolitan judge in Mumbai was sacked for this.--------------------------------Naveen Malhotra had quoted instances after instances of judicial corruption. I"t made a very sad reading-------------------