As Women’s Day approaches, a reminder…

It is evident that the judgment in the Roop Kanwar case is full of loopholes. On five grounds we feel that the government can appeal in the Rajasthan High Court…

• The inaccurate interpretation of glorification as a practice that has to be connected with the event of sati, that the judge, Shiv Singh Chauhan, has made in the judgment, is against the 1987 Rajasthan Ordinance of Sati Prevention under which these cases were tried.

• The judge completely disregarded the Supreme Court judgment which had set aside the order of the Rajasthan High Court with regard to the notification of the district magistrate regarding Section 6.

• The judge has rejected the evidence provided by the police, the testimony of the investigation officer as saying that as they are sheer policemen they do not have to be trusted. This is against the basic Indian law.

• The judge goes outside his jurisdiction and gives a definition of sati as all those woman who spend their entire lives with one man and are pure and of character, clearly shows the judge’s disregard for his office as the law has not defined sati in this manner.

• The contradictory nature and the predetermined mind of the judge is clearly highlighted from the fact that once he had given the above interpretation of glorification as being linked to the incident of sati, he need not have appreciated the evidence regarding glorification.

We feel these facts are enough to take the matter for appeal to the Rajasthan High Court. We also feel that action needs to be taken against all those official witnesses who turned hostile. We also feel that the 18 other cases that are undergoing trial need to be conducted not with just one public prosecutor but a support group of legal experts…

It is a matter of grave concern that even in the year 2004 we cannot convict people of glorifying the heinous and barbaric act of sati.