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This is a chronicle of developing story of India woven around daily events involving politics, corruption and cricket.

April 21, 2011 (Thrusday) : No one killed Jessica

Jessica Lall, a young model, was shot dead on 29 April 1999 by Manu Sharma, the son of Vinod Sharma, a politician in Haryana. There were dozens of witnesses. But, Manu Sharma and his associates were acquitted by the court as the prosecution succumbed to the defense having patronage of a resourceful politician father. Most of the critical witnesses had turned hostile and ballistic report was manipulated. However, following intense media and public pressure, the prosecution appealed to Delhi High Court against the order of lower court. The High Court, taking cognizance of widespread people’s feeling, conducted proceedings on a fast track. Manu Sharma was ultimately found guilty of having murdered Jessica Lall. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The whole story has been captured in a well appreciated film released last year “No one Killed Jessica”. The movie has a very powerful impact on people not knowing the details of the saga. One question, however, that remained uppermost in the mind of a viewer after watching the movie was whether witnesses and investigators were not responsible for the injustice to a dead soul? This high profile case exposed the inherent weakness of the legal system prevailing in the country. Essentially, Indian law system lacked in witness protection and perjury proceedings. Today, there is a small story on perjury proceedings by Delhi High Court against the hostile witnesses and ballistic expert involved in the same Jessica Lall case. This new dimension of perjury proceedings is indeed a gift from the good soul of Jessica Lall to Indian legal system.

For some time, it has been very hectic for the judiciary in India. The judiciary has to substitute for the near absence of the executive machinery which is loath to act unless instructed or guided. Actually, Government has been doing the opposite by stalling proceedings or negating the exposure of worng-doings in the first place. In the case of appointment of tainted Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC),P.J.Thomas, Government protested that appointment of CVC is its prerogative and Court's stand in this matter amounted to be an infringement of judiciary in the matter of executive functions. On the other hand, Government sought to write off existance of any scam in 2G spectrum distribution even when Government audit itself brought out the details of wrong doings in the distribution of 2G licenses. Surprisingly, the indifference of Government is not limitied to financial or administrative mangement. Even on matters of social program like public distribution, the court has to intervene. ‘We cannot have two Indias. You want the world to believe we are the strongest emerging economy, but millions of poor and hungry people are a stark contrast.”, the Supreme Court said. The Court also appointed a committee headed by a former SC judge to draw a blueprint for computerization of the Public Distribution System (PDS). The PDS is a key component of Government program to help poor and needy.

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Source:  OpenStax, Sheila ki jawani (youth of sheila). OpenStax CNX. May 25, 2011 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11295/1.36
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