Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court has questioned the CBI on the differential bail rationale for the 2G accused. While the agency is reportedly not opposing bail for five of the accused,including DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV managing director Sharad Kumar,it is contesting the bail pleas of others like Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa and former private secretary to A. Raja,R.K. Chandolia. Justice Singhvi pointedly asked why,if the CBI was now convinced that these five would not tamper with evidence,was it necessary to have kept them in prison all these months. Those are hard questions,which the CBI will be hard put to convincingly answer.
Despite our higher courts having repeatedly affirmed the bail,not jail principle,bail is often not granted in many cases that involve high-profile politicians or business persons. The general backdrop is of concern. Given the sense that our investigative and judicial processes tend to snake on without real repercussions for such people,the popular worry is that crime will ultimately go unpunished. So rather than focusing energies on building up a solid,damning case against the accused and working towards conviction,it seems easier to have them kept in interim custody for months. However,that approach is entirely wrong-headed in a democracy that respects due process. Our constitutional and criminal jurisprudence presumes innocence until guilt is conclusively proven and this action undermines that crucial principle.
