Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The UP governments flip-flops on terror cases could undermine trust in due process for all,including minorities
After expansively promising,in its election manifesto,to get terror cases against innocent Muslims withdrawn,the Samajwadi Party government has suffered setbacks in court. As it sought to undo charges against those accused of planning and executing the 2007 serial blasts in Lucknow,Varanasi and Faizabad,the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has stayed the process. The court was responding to a PIL that asked how the government could recall sanction for prosecution,if it rested on material evidence collected by investigating agencies. The bench has given the state government six weeks to respond,and referred the case to a larger bench. The government,though,was clearly unprepared to defend its action. Its lawyers failed to produce concrete evidence to counter the earlier case,or any new information. This letdown comes after a Barabanki court rejected the governments plea earlier,citing shoddy paperwork because it hadnt bothered to back up its case through an affidavit,merely asking for the case to be withdrawn in the interest of communal harmony.
Terror cases need impartial investigations,not political gestures. Withdrawing cases in the interest of communal harmony is as harmful as framing false cases,in that it strengthens cynicism about the states arbitrariness and bad faith. Trust in due process must be strengthened,for everyone,including minorities. That requires rigorous standards of evidence. The SP government would do better by its promise if it disproves the case against those it believes were unfairly targeted,exposes the flawed investigation and convinces the court.
