A group of people commit murder and mayhem. A friend
of theirs knows of the plans and helps them to safekeep the arms and ammunition
meant for this act and in the process treats himself to some of the grenades
and an assault rifle. Another person, a woman, handles these arms before they
finally reach this fiend.
The slaughter done, the henchmen move away to safer
lands while this friend remains their friend. Unfortunately, the police sniff out the
perpetrators and this friend too gets implicated, arrested and jailed. Only,
this friend happened to be a Bollywood star, son of successful Bollywood stars
who transitioned as successful politicians. So, not very long after his
incarceration, he gets bail while most of the others apprehended for either
committing, abetting or having knowledge of this carnage deservedly continue to
serve time in prison.
Curiously, while all the other accused including the
woman handler were convicted under TADA, this son of destiny was convicted only
under Arms Act, which ensured that the punishment handed out to him would be
lesser in quantum. Then, the highest court of this land reduced quantum of his
punishment to the bare minimum prescribed under law! But worse was to come –
his Bollywood fraternity striking up a powerful chorus in his support;
politicians falling over each other to hand out good character certificates for
him and an ex Supreme Court judge, now more famous than he ever was, pleading
for clemency on grounds of his playing a role in some movie on Mahatma Gandhi!
It probably escaped this ex-distinguished gent that this same accused had played
a criminal in many of his movies. Does that mean that he be punished for those
celluloid crimes?
Sympathising with a person is one thing but trying to
unduly influence public policy is a different ballgame altogether. In the
instant case, a pardon to this criminal will mean that each and every convict
be pardoned for each of them has spent many more years in prison and have
undergone as much, if not more of mental agony in the twenty year long
conviction process. Even more seriously, this pardon would mean that there
would be very few crimes which would demand punishment. For, on the scales of
justice, few crimes committed by individuals would equal the act of a war
unleashed on unsuspecting civilians, destroying lives of those who died and
those who survived. Why should a roadside rowdy or a bootlegger then be
punished when his crimes pale into insignificance when compared to this
carnage?
The saving grace of this nauseating spectacle of the
elite and the ruling classes conspiring to help out of their own is the visible
lack of public support for this ill-advised drive. For a Nation prone to deifying
celluloid heroes and vapid sportsmen, it is remarkable that not only are there
no processions of fans demanding pardon, online discussion forums and comment
boards across the web display a rare unanimity of opinion in wanting the
sentence to be executed.
Public opinion is notoriously fickle but for now, it
seems to be the only bet which may prevent the elite from playing with the law
yet again.
For details of Sanjay Dutt’s role in the blasts, read
here
