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Sanjay Dutt: Barking up the wrong tree!

& Arvind Kejriwal: 

Making of a political Mahatma

Is there something wrong with the way private thoughts are being articulated in public space?

When I & C conducted an elocution competition, for district colleges, last year, the subject was “Towards Fair Society – Where did India go wrong?” Top Prize winner of the competition from St. Agnes College had reversed the question and asked “Where did India go right?” Of course, she had enough and more to prove her point.

Thus the 1st question that can similarly be asked, ‘Is there anything right the way private thoughts are being articulated in public space, primarily intended for private benefit!’ There have been many subjects of the private nature which were brought in as a subject of public debate.

One such debate is the mere 3 ½ years of imprisonment confirmed by the highest court of the land, for an offence, the apex court called ‘serious’, to the bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt.

Saga of Sanjay Dutt’s tryst with the law of the land has a history of over 20 years. It was post 1993, Bombay Bomb Blast case, that he was arraigned in 2006, by the designated TADA Court, for possessing AK 56 and other ammunitions illegally.

The competent authority at that time took into consideration all aspect of the case and he was given 6 years prison term. After 18 months, he managed a bail, when his case was rendered free of terror angle by the court.

Now that the case has been concluded after its trip to the Supreme Court, which is an inevitable process, by those affected, who do not agree the lower court version of the case. So after 20 years, among all those who were affected by the High Court verdict some got reprieve and some didn’t. Among those who couldn’t convince the court was Sanjay Dutt’s attorney. Surely for good reason the apex court decided to confirm the 5 years imprisonment of Dutt, although there were justifiable clamour to book him under TADA which could have attracted longer prison term.

Here it is pertinent to go into the details of Sanjay Dutt’s relation with the underworld, the conduit which provided him with prohibited arms and ammunitions. As soon as he returned to Mumbai from his schooling in Shimla, he got in touch with people dealing with ‘Heroine’, the banned drug. Since ‘Heroine’ was an expensive drug, only underworld could provide it. Sanjay’s cinema proximity made it attractive for the underworld to creep into celluloid’s murky world, and it grew with years, and Sanjay Dutt sunk deeper into the drug net. Of course, his stint with drug eradication programme did help him make a comeback but his friendship with the shady world of mafia, remained intact. Like most affluent spoilt brats, he didn’t think of its implications in a wider national context. That was how, he came to store those dangerous, prohibited arms and ammunitions in his house, as quid pro quo for the earlier drug supplies. He simply didn’t think for a moment, that this storing of such dangerous arms could be patently anti-national, especially when procured from confirmed enemies of the nation. The argument that this dangerous weapon was for self defence, is plain & simple hog wash.

It was on 21st March that Supreme Court confirmed the conviction of Sanjay Dutt and the PCI Chairman, Justice Katju, comes rushing to rescue the actor, who is the son of Sunil Dutt and Nargis, both former Members of parliament, so also were bollywood actors. What was driving the retired justice to rush for the rescue act is a mystery, although he claimed to have moved by humanitarian consideration! Which obviously he didn’t have, for those thousands of faceless prisoners rotting in Indian jails, for years on, across the country! The sympathy that Justice Katju is trying to invoke for Sanjay is utterly and completely misplaced. 

No sooner, PCI Chairman made an appeal to the Maharashtra Governor, clamour got louder exponentially, as if it was an absolute miscarriage of justice. From the law minister of the country, Ashwin Kumar, to I & B Minister, the ebullient and bombastic, Manish Tiwari, to actor and Tourism Minister Chiranjeevi, to actor Mrs Jaya Bachchan. NCP General Secretary D.P. Tripathi, too jumped into Katju bandwagon besides actor Rajanikant praying for Dutt’s welfare. Also their running mates were actor Jayaprada and her former SP mentor Amar Singh, joining the chorus, including Shanti Bhushan, a former Union Law Minister chipping in with his piece in The Hindu, “This plot needs a new ending”.

Among all those who pitched for the release of Sanjay Dutt after the appeal by PCI Chairman Katju, the most interesting observation came from Manish Tiwari. He had reportedly stated “Justice Katju has been a very eminent judge of the Supreme Court, whenever he articulates a position on an issue, people both inside and outside the government listens to it carefully”. For sure! especially after his Modi diatribe, he will be the darling to likes of Manish Tiwari.

However what needs to be told to the likes of Manish Tiwari, are some of the observations in the media, in letters to editors: which calls for, I quote, “Katju’s clamour for pardon to Sanjay calls for redefining the job description of the role and duties of the chairperson of the Press Council of India, lest other should step out of boundary which he seems to revel in his statutory position” unquote. Then you have this Congress bull in the China shop, Digvijay Singh, Congress Gen. Secretary, who has reportedly asked for clemency “Since Sanjay Dutt was only 33 years”. In a country where even a 10 year old is not spared (U.P episode of 10 year old rape victim being locked up by the police) how do you think a 33 year old should be exhonerated, that too for a serious offence!? Isn’t  Digvijay Singh making a joke of himself?

This observation in the print media is not an isolated one, there have been many articulating such thoughts in the media. He is far too officious (in Kannada, it is called ‘Adhika Prasangi’) in his penchant for interference with uncalled and unsolicited comments.

While there are any number of all those concerned for the welfare of Sanjay Dutt, a friend of underworld, there are equal number of those who want the law to take its course. Leading the other pack is the maverick politician Subramanya Swamy of Janata Party. There are also political parties like BJP & CPI who are opposed to the grant of pardon to the cine star.

While film actors are naturally rallying behind Sanjay Dutt, since he is one of them, it appears very intriguing for the former Supreme Court Justice and the current Press Council Chairman Markandeya Katju, to dash to the press to make an appeal for clemency.

The appeal looks all the more funny that despite Sanjay Dutt announcing at a press meet called at his residential premises that he shall not seek pardon and shall undergo the balance of 3 ½ years of imprisonment. He also has stated that he will surrender to the jail authorities before the expiry of the period of 4 weeks allowed by the court, and that he will complete all his film commitments before the time expires. Since Sanjay has made it so clear, for Governor of Maharashtra to act in haste recommending to the Ministry of Home Affairs is certainly uncalled for. In a country where hundreds, if not thousands, languish in jail across the country, without trial for years to-gether, this act of Governor smacks of an agenda driven largesse. This certainly reflects the poverty of thinking fairly and squarely.

For Justice Katju to sing paeans about Sanjay’s ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’ for his pro Gandhian roll, and therefore he should be pardoned, is to have mortgaged his sense of proportion. AK 56 possessed by Sanjay Dutt, was part of the consignment of weapons and explosives brought for the serial blast. Court had ruled out release on probation because of the serious nature of his offence. Besides, isn’t it a shame that neither the court thought, nor police suspected that Sanjay Dutt had the prior knowledge of the bomb blast, given his proximity to the perpetrators of the crime, but failed to inform police? In fact, the very verdict of the apex court of convicting Sanjay for only 5 years is based on questionable premises.

Justice Katju has been variously called, including insolent, authoritative, overbearing, egoist, a nut case, a megalomaniac and the likes. As can be easily felt, somebody will certainly pull the plug. He has been mouthing expletives and unnecessary comments which reflect poorly on his quasi judicial position.

Going by the contents of his remarks, and those of others asking for pardon to Dutt, the argument of possessing AK 56 for self defence falls flat on many counts. It gives rise to an extremely untenable question “Can all Indians who have threat perceptions, both real and imagined, get arms unlawfully in the name of self defence?” asks a reader Maheshwari from Dehra Dun. “The argument that Sanjay Dutt had no choice other than acquiring illegal weapons from questionable sources to protect himself and hence must be let off is laughable. An illegal act is an illegal act” said, Rajeev Ayyappan of Madurai. Section 96 of IPC expressly denies anybody the right to obtain arms, that too of totally prohibited description, like AK 56, for private defence. Besides Dutt got the rifle from a proclaimed offender with whom he was on friendly terms. If the court assumes, under the circumstances, that Dutt could be part of the operation, the judge cannot be faulted at all.

Hence for Justice Katju, who was a Supreme Court judge, so also Chief Justice of Madras High Court, to make light of the sentence by the TADA court – 6 years – and that of Supreme Court – 5 years – is to expose his overbearing nature in the public spaces. 

Interestingly in twitter/internet there were these remarks. 

“Since Sanjay was a Lok Sabha candidate and functionary of Samajwadi Party, the accusation by BeniPrasad that Mulayam has relation with terrorist may be relevant”.

“Why there is so much heart burn for some people that Sanjay being jailed? Is he some social revolutionary?” asked another.

“The one who transported the weapon, got 10 years, and the one who possessed only 5 years?” asked the third one.

“Justice Katju hold a constitutional post and should do nothing to undermine it.”

“If persons associated with acts of terror can be pardoned on such appeals, what is the need for courts?”

Thus there are n numbers of comments on the boorishness of Justice Katju’s over enthusiasm in asking for pardon for Sanjay Dutt. In fact his statement that despite Dutt’s wanting to comply with court directive to surrender, “I am going to apply for pardon to the President and to the Governor of Maharashtra” confirms his clumsiness. 

Yes, when all is said & done, Dutt must undergo the jail term in the larger sense of justice, otherwise it will indeed be a travesty of justice, not the other way round, as Shanti Bhushan so fervently makes a case of, when he suggested “This plot needs a new ending”. Right enough Prabhu Ananth from Coimbatore had this to say “The legal and justifiable end to the plot would be to honour the Supreme Court verdict in letter and in spirit, especially after he acquired an AK 56 from notorious criminals ostensibly to protect himself, instead of going to the police.”

At this point, it is very pertinent to reproduce what Abhitej Singh Sandhu, the grand-nephew of Shahid Bhagat Singh had to say, while insisting that law must take its course, “What these political leaders, actors are doing by raising their voice requesting reprieve for Sanjay Dutt, are in fact insulting the judicial system”. 

Coming to justice Katju’s impertinency, he had written an article “Even the Chairman has the freedom of speech” for which, there were n number of letters, to the editor, castigating him.

“True, Justice Katju, has the right to pass comments but his responsibilities should take priority over his freedom of speech. A retired judge doesn’t need to be reminded of this” Dhanajay Kulkarni from Bidar wrote.

While admitting Katju’s frankness, CP Chandra Das of Airligton reiterated. “As some holding a high office of PCI, he should restrict his frankness to issues which have bearing on the fourth estate. All citizens have the right to freedom of speech, but it will be prudent on his part to exercise restraint in his own interest”.

“Imagine what will happen if all those occupying high constitutional offices start expressing their personal political views” was the take of A P Viswanathan from Chennai.

No wonder recently some social activists have written to President Pranab Mukherjee and PM Manmohan Singh, seeking removal of Markandeya Katju as PCI Chairman for “misusing his position to take up causes of convicts of serious offences of anti national nature”. In coming months, such demands will only grow louder. 

If 24x7 media gave whole lot of time for Justice Katju vis-à-vis Sanjay Dutt, it is very pertinent to observe that neither the media nor this PCI Chairman, who is a ‘CONCERNED’ citizen of India, had any time for the fast that Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party had undertaken for the aam aadmi of Delhi. He has been fasting since almost15 days.

The 24x7 media, who were quick to report (Headlines Today) that ‘fast by Kejriwal is fading’ within the few days of its commencement, went absolutely quite, as if they were forced to do so. And this ‘very concerned’ Justice Katju, who is very selective in his selection of issues, was no-where around, when one of the cleanest men in public life, whom TIME has reportedly anointed to be the 100 most influential person in the world, was fasting for clean politics. Arvind Kejriwal, by any stretch of imagination, can be expected to give a very honest fight to give a clean political party to the nation. Unlike, Justice Katju, who betrays politics in his writings and public utterances, Arvind Kejriwal is a person who has given up cushy job to serve the cause of greater good. There’s a whole lot of Indians, who can learn some lessons from his life of selflessness. Hope Indians of all hues, come out, in open support for him and his party. Only worry is, there is a need of dedicated selfless battery of men committed to the larger good of the nation. Such men, are the real need for the AAP to go from place to place from strength to strength. Only then can there be hope for politics and therefore better governance. It is indeed a travesty of justice that a person whom Indian media, and their creation Justice Katju, have ignored, for the TIME magazine to come out openly to vote  Arvind Kejriwal as the only Indian to be in the 100 most influential persons in the world. It’s a shame on the Indian media and Justice Katju.

While Justice Katju and the electronic media spent precious time and resources promoting the cause of a vagabond drug addict turned film actor turned so-called ‘honourable man’ but caught with contraband highly dangerous arms, for them to ignore, an emerging ‘messiah’ in the form of Arvind Kejriwal is to have lost a sense of balance of what constitutes right and wrong in a public space. At least the ‘TIMES” intervention can jolt them out of their magnified stupor. 

J.Shriyan