Readers' Forum
Travesty of justice
November 24, 2022 was the 61st court date of my two cases at the Tenughat court (sub-divisional court of Bermo in Bokaro district) in the state of Jharkhand — a state which I had never been to earlier and yet was incarcerated in for nearly two years. I have two cases there.
At the age of 75, with severe orthopedic and other health problems, I once again came all the way from Bombay to Ranchi from where I travelled for four hours by road to Tenughat for a court case only to discover that yet again there was no witness. During 61 hearings over the past five years only one witness has appeared, and even that witness turned hostile.
Two advocates, Virendra Prasad (on behalf of senior advocate S. P Singh) and Rohit Thakur appeared on my behalf, to little effect. Advocates Jitendra Singh and Anjani Nandan are looking after my appeals in the High Court. I will now have to travel all the way back to Bombay once again at huge expense. Additionally, there are enormous legal and other costs. But for the tireless efforts of social workers Vikasji and Alkaji of Bermo I may not have been able to sustain the strain of attendance in an alien place.
Though the High Court has exempted me from personal appearance except when demanded by the sessions judge, I went all the way to Jharkhand as I had been given to understand that closure procedures would be initiated for which my presence would be required. But the only thing that happened is yet another date was set for December 16. If closure proceedings are initiated on that date my presence would be required which would again entail enormous expense not to mention braving the icy cold of Jharkhand. But better this suffering than further postponement and harassment.
This is but an example of the legal system in our country which a person of my standing has to face. What then would be the plight of ordinary citizens where lakhs, nay millions, of lives are destroyed through such procedures and thousands of time hours frittered away in futile proceedings? There must be thousands of courts handling millions of cases all over the country. Most of those implicated are working people, the value of whose lost man days would amount to crores of rupees. Hundreds of people are similarly involved in the infrastructure in each court. What a waste of their labor in fruitless court hearings year after year. What a loss of national wealth! Though the levels of the procedures would vary from state to state, this would amount to a gigantic waste of the country’s time and resources which could instead be constructively utilized to contribute fruitfully to nation-building.
KOBAD GHANDY
kobad1947@gmail.com
The editors note:
Ghandy was incarcerated in various jails, including Tihar, as an undertrial for almost 10 years under the draconian Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act. He was released on bail around three years ago.
At the age of 75, with severe orthopedic and other health problems, I once again came all the way from Bombay to Ranchi from where I travelled for four hours by road to Tenughat for a court case only to discover that yet again there was no witness. During 61 hearings over the past five years only one witness has appeared, and even that witness turned hostile.
Two advocates, Virendra Prasad (on behalf of senior advocate S. P Singh) and Rohit Thakur appeared on my behalf, to little effect. Advocates Jitendra Singh and Anjani Nandan are looking after my appeals in the High Court. I will now have to travel all the way back to Bombay once again at huge expense. Additionally, there are enormous legal and other costs. But for the tireless efforts of social workers Vikasji and Alkaji of Bermo I may not have been able to sustain the strain of attendance in an alien place.
Though the High Court has exempted me from personal appearance except when demanded by the sessions judge, I went all the way to Jharkhand as I had been given to understand that closure procedures would be initiated for which my presence would be required. But the only thing that happened is yet another date was set for December 16. If closure proceedings are initiated on that date my presence would be required which would again entail enormous expense not to mention braving the icy cold of Jharkhand. But better this suffering than further postponement and harassment.
This is but an example of the legal system in our country which a person of my standing has to face. What then would be the plight of ordinary citizens where lakhs, nay millions, of lives are destroyed through such procedures and thousands of time hours frittered away in futile proceedings? There must be thousands of courts handling millions of cases all over the country. Most of those implicated are working people, the value of whose lost man days would amount to crores of rupees. Hundreds of people are similarly involved in the infrastructure in each court. What a waste of their labor in fruitless court hearings year after year. What a loss of national wealth! Though the levels of the procedures would vary from state to state, this would amount to a gigantic waste of the country’s time and resources which could instead be constructively utilized to contribute fruitfully to nation-building.
KOBAD GHANDY
kobad1947@gmail.com
The editors note:
Ghandy was incarcerated in various jails, including Tihar, as an undertrial for almost 10 years under the draconian Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act. He was released on bail around three years ago.
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