A legal debacle

"It is a shame that an outlaw should remind two State governments of their duty, with a gun pointed at their heads...." V. R. LAKSHMINARAYANAN asks why, yet again, our security forces and the law have been found wanting.

"Men make history, but not as they please."

- Karl Marx

SANDALWOOD Veerappan (of late, the "smuggler" part has mysteriously vanished) and to an extent, the Governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are making history. The otherwise placid South has been quite rattled by Veerappan spiriting away actor Rajkumar and three others. An emissary has been close at hand to defuse the situation, mainly to get the Kannada cine-icon and his friends released. Even the Prime Minister's visit to the United Nations has taken a back seat and TV channels hum with discussions on the Constitutional implications, while experts long in hibernation have been suitably attired and presented as saviours who know the solutions. Legal luminaries have been quite vocal and current greats have reserved their talents for court- room drama; the only faces missing are the military experts.

Veerappan has struck where it hurts most. And he is aware that the police in both the States are pusillanimous to the point of non-existence. To release the hostages, his demands are high and portend serious trouble in the future. He wants most of the terrorists and his acolytes in prison released, and the cases against them withdrawn. And this brigand, just another pindari of the old school has donned the mantle of a fighter for Tamil linguistic rights and wants Cauvery water released without any more legal ceremonies if Karnataka wants its celluloid idol back. The only issue on which reasonable men will not quarrel with him is his demand that those who suffered at the hands of the Special Task Police Force - and they are quite a few - be adequately compensated immediately. It is a shame that an outlaw should remind two State governments of their duty, with a gun pointed at their heads. That these demands have been promptly conceded to is merely to say that we have truly become a soft State and our security forces have been found wanting, time and again.

It is at this point that the courts have thrown a spanner in the works. The withdrawal of cases have been quite normal in Independent India. Or rather, in the last few years. Under the law a case can be withdrawn by the Public Prosecutor with the consent of the Court. I remember how governments were once against letting criminals or suspects off the hook. But now the considerations are mostly profit to the party in power.

One egregious case was the Baroda Dynamite case when the Janata Government, even before the Ministers were sworn in, withdrew it. Maybe they viewed the case as part of a second freedom movement. Agreed, there was something to be said in its favour. Gandhiji would have waited for the trial to be over and then remitted the sentence in full. But Gandhiji had been cremated 30 years earlier. Then came a series of withdrawal of political cases during the reincarnation of Indira Gandhi in 1980. She, her son and many allies were facing trial in numerous cases, but the cases were withdrawn en masse. I don't think any court uttered a word. It was private interest of some persons and not public interest that mattered then. There was one case concerning some VIPs which Jayaprakashji suggested for withdrawal to Shri Morarjee Desai. The request was turned down and Desai's advice was "let the truth be established in court, and those guilty of framing false charges would be dealt with severely." We have travelled a long way from that. Corruption and kindred crimes, why, even murder and mayhem are not frowned upon in Indian politics and public administration. Politicians, criminals and civil servants are associated in a grand conspiracy. When there is a change of parties after an election, some cases crop up against members of the overthrown regime but litigative and investigative efforts are so swift that by the time any case reaches a final or penultimate stage, the old party climbs back to power and either atrophy or withdrawals extend a sheltering hand. Small wonder, public confidence in the Rule of Law is a vanished virtue.

What is causing concern now is the judicial road-block to Veerappan's demand to release about 150 detenus. To be frank, a lot of them are there because they did not have a fair trial. It required a brigand to remind us that, in Walt Whitman's words, "The official services of the State, National, Provincial and Municipal, in all their branches and departments, except the judiciary, are saturated in corruption, bribery, falsehood, maladministration; and the judiciary is tainted." That explains the remarkable apathy and a cynical absence of moral rage against this demand of Veerappan and the meek response of the governments.

To be frank, we have to submit to the various demands, for Rajkumar's life is not something that can be played with. The court should be made aware of the horrendous consequences that may flow from one single wrong move. Innocent lives will perish.

The basic issues should be placed in focus. The victims of Veerappan approached the court impugning the case withdrawals. The two governments have to be blamed for not holding consultations with them and bringing them round to face the realities and forget their wounds for a larger cause. That is democracy. It is this lack of transparency and taking the people for granted that has led to the current debacle. The Public Prosecutor has applied to the court for withdrawal of the cases. The real victims have been brushed aside.

To salvage the damage, the governments should come forward offering compensation at least to partly alleviate the anguish of the members of the bereaved families. It might induce a change of heart in all concerned. Most importantly there should be a genuine examination of our security and operational capabilities. I shall end with a quote from the Final Report of the American National Commission on Prevention of Violence: "When in man's long history other great nations fell, it was less often from external assault than from internal decay." There is a rising tide of individual and group violence and that has to be squashed before it goes out of control. There are other Veerappans lurking round the corner and their rise should be arrested.

The author is a retired Director General of Police.

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