Sanjay Dutt
© AFP/File Indranil Mukherjee06 Aug 2007 (Sawf News) - Grave injustice has been done to Sanjay Dutt by the TADA Special Court of the Hon'ble Judge P.D.Kode who tried the Bombay Serial Blasts cases of March 1993.Sanjay Dutt has been sentenced to six years rigorous imprisonment for absolutely no fault of his. He is thoroughly innocent, naïve and credulous and has become a victim of flawed justice system.
The TADA court had itself acquitted him of the charges of his involvement in the serial bomb blasts. Meaning thereby that his arrest and detention for over sixteen months was grossly illegal. Obviously the Bombay police had implicated him by framing up false charges against him. He was denied bail on that basis primarily. For which he had to approach the Supreme Court of India. Had he been hauled up under the Arms Act he would have got the bail the next day itself. Who is responsible for his unlawful incarceration for unduly long period? He does deserve proper compensation for that which only now the Supreme Court can give. Till that again he will have to undergo illegal suffering.
Immediately after the charges of terrorist activities were dropped against him the TADA Special Court lost its jurisdiction to try him because the case pertained to Arms Act only. TADA court could invoke the Arms Act only if the weapons in question had any relation, whatsoever, with the serial bomb blasts. The Hon'ble Judge should have himself refused to hear the case any further even if not requested by the Sanjay Dutt's learned lawyer.
Since nothing of the sort was done the TADA Special Court should have de-linked this case from the main body of serial blast cases. This case should have been tried separately and independently. The best course in the interest of justice should have been to transfer the case to the relevant court. That also was not done. That it was kept intertwined with the bomb blast case was legally wrong.
Under the circumstances the minimum the elementary principles of justice demanded that Sanjay Dutt should have been compensated for his totally unlawful arrest and detention for over sixteen months by acquitting him unconditionally. Deducting that period now from the quantum of the current punishment is not compensation. The question is of wrongful arrest and detention apart from fourteen ye ars long mental torture. The case under Arms Act would definitely have not taken that long to decide.
Above all there is a cardinal question which has not been adequately addressed and answered. Rather it has been either lost sight of or deliberately drowned in the noise TADA Act cases.
What led, compelled and drove Sanjay Dutt to possess some weapons for self defense and for how long did he keep them? That is to say that the circumstances and the context have to be taken into account. The entire political and social scenario has to be reconstructed to appreciate the threat perceived by Sanjay Dutt and his disability to obtain a license.
It is widely accepted that March 1993 serial blasts were a response to the Dec.92-----Jan.93 Bombay riots which in turn followed the demolition of Babri Masjid at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.This chain reaction explains the total social, political and administrative atmosphere of that period. Sanjay Dutt as a son of Sunil Dutt and Nargis must have felt intensely insecure. Nobody should expect such a family to ask for police protection .It should have been the duty of the police to apprehend the situation and assure proper protection .Did the police act?
Riots do occur in our country intermittently. But they are the result of system failure. We have so far failed to eliminate the virus from our body politic. Sanjay Dutt had all the valid reasons to act the way he did. Even the Hon'ble judge P.D.Kode is reported have remarked that whatever Dutt had done was not anti-social, ghastly, inhuman, and immoral or preplanned. and did not cause any harm to the general public.
His case under Arms Act has been torn out of context. Justice demands that it should be placed in that context and circumstances. For the system failure an innocent and honest citizen should not be made to suffer.
Sanjay Dutt being a thorough gentleman has been caught and has confessed also. Otherwise there are hundreds of them who are roaming about freely with lethal weapons without any license. In his case there has been over-emphasis of the prosecution to establish criminality in his act of self defense. That clearly seems to be far-fetched and has resulted into cruelty against an innocent person. His security concerns have been completely over-shadowed in a bid to overdo. Was there anyone to guarantee him the safety of his and his sisters' lives in those darkest ever days for them? It was his sense of intense insecurity and not criminality which drove Sanjay Dutt to keep weapons even if illegally.
Hence Sanjay Dutt's case demands a comprehensive human approach and not a narrow technical one. Only then justice can be meted out to him. The Supreme Court of India, one can reasonably hope, is fully competent to take a holistic view of the case and do justice to him by releasing him forthwith so that his honesty and integrity be restored.
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I thank Hargopal Singh with all my heart for this absolutely correct view on Sanjay Dutt's case. And I would like to add three more arguements:
1. The Dutt familiy DID ask for police help during the riots. Several times. One letter by Sunil Dutt to the local police asking for help because of the threats was even used as piece of evidence in the trial. But nobody bothered to help them.
2. Sanjay Dutt's arrest and trial under TADA Act was also a matter of hostage-taking to destroy and finish Sunil Dutt's political career. 3. And the police must have been only too happy about this "accused no. 1" as he filled the headlines and therefore nobody talked about their defaults anymore which made it possible for the real culprits to escape abroad. Sanjay Dutt became the scapegoat who had to bear the police's and authorities' sins and failures.
Free Sanju!
Ingrid Zellner, Germany, 09 Aug 2007