Opinion Kasabs trial: fair or farcical?
IN a society based on the rule of law,even the most despicable accused like Kasab is entitled to a fair trial and legal representation....
IN a society based on the rule of law,even the most despicable accused like Kasab is entitled to a fair trial and legal representation. But a trial must not be unduly protracted. Speedy justice is also an important element. Are the 200 witnesses cited by the prosecution really necessary in an apparently open and shut case? The court appointed defence counsel Kazmi appeared more interested in delaying the trial than proving Kasabs innocence. And the undignified spat of the judge with the defence counsel and dismissing him was not conducive to an expeditious trial.
The judge must now act in earnest and direct the prosecution to close its case and arguments within say two months,give some time to the defence and then promptly deliver judgment. The court may consider sitting for more than the usual court time. People are very agitated about the dilatory pace of the trial. Besides there is a limit to which the patience of the victims families can be taxed. A fair trial must not become a farcical trial. By hindsight it was a serious error not to accept Kasabs plea of guilty after making sure that it was voluntary and not under any kind of pressure.
Financial recession and adultery
Married males over the years have had a stock of excuses for their roving eye and for their itch,seven year or otherwise. A usual excuse is lack of understanding and neglect by his spouse who does not appreciate his talents and constantly nags him for his follies. The poor creature,starved of affection,understandably gets in the arms and lap of his beloved companion.
Another justification has a retaliatory ring. If my wife can commit adultery and under our Constitution and the Supreme Court judgments she can neither be prosecuted nor punished,what is wrong in having a loving relationship with another woman for many a man is making friends with death for lack of love alone. And it is high time the discrimination in favour of women in matter of adultery is done away with as recommended by the Law Commission. The social and economic state of women is vastly different from the times of Lord Maculay in the mid-nineteenth century who justified the distinction. The harried man has a point there but it is not likely to be accepted because Chief Justice Chandrachud in a Supreme Court judgment delivered in 1985 solemnly stated,without any data or material,it is the man who is the seducer and not the woman.
But these explanations are passé. According to a dating website in Britan,its survey of over 600 men and women bankers revealed that the topmost reason why these bankers embarked on extra-marital affairs was owing to public revulsion for bankers combined with lack of affection in private. But closely following this reason there are other reasons namely the excitement of doing something risky,feeding the ego and one-upping the boys with a trophy mistress. So the cat is out of the bag and we are back to square one.
The Ronnie Scotts club at fifty
Ronnie Scotts jazz club in Frith Street,Soho,has been the mecca of jazz fans visiting London. It was opened in 1959 by Ronnie Scott as a club run by musicians for musicians. Ronnie was a good rousing tenor-saxophonist. He played in India at the Jazz Yatra in January 1984 with his band. He was always pleased to see jazz fans from India at his club and made sure they got good seats close enough to the players to see their humanity,as Scott once said. Virtually every jazz stalwart has performed live there. I was thrilled to hear Roy Elridge and Sarah Vaughan in the 70s before Scotts untimely death in 1997. At one stage the club lost its jazz soul as it strayed into pop and soul. However,Ronnie Scotts at fifty is live and kicking and Ronnies spirit pervades performances at this inimitable club which I experienced when tenor saxophonist Benny Golson played in July this year.
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