[Assam] Something New -- from ToI

[Chan Mahanta]

*** Is it new? Or is it very old news?

But at least it is acknowledged, by the supremes!  Perhaps our 
friends won't need to make ridiculous claims to the contrary any more 
:-).

cm





 From ToI

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Trials_hijacked_by_manipulation_SC/articleshow/4083289.cms

Criminal justice system has collapsed: SC


6 Feb 2009, 0102 hrs IST, Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN



NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Thursday sounded the grim warning that 
the criminal justice system had been subverted, with witnesses being 
manipulated and trials being hijacked with judges and lawyers 
remaining "handicapped witnesses".

Making the chilling observation, which to many only confirmed the 
widely held perception of the erosion of the system, a Bench 
comprising Justices B N Agrawal, G S Singhvi and Aftab Alam also said 
that the lower judiciary had decayed.

"The courts of magistrate and munsif have ceased to be an option for 
the common man," the Bench said and compared the lower courts to 
ill-equipped and ill-staffed public health centres (PHCs) in rural 
areas.

"Only those people go there who have no other option," said the Bench 
as an apparent indicator of the low measure of public faith in these 
courts, which are the first points of dispute settlement for the 
masses.

The comment, perhaps the sharpest-ever from the apex court on the 
health of the country's judicial administration system, came in a 
case arising from the appeal filed by two senior advocates - R K 
Anand and I U Khan - against Delhi High Court's order hauling them up 
for criminal contempt for influencing a key witness in a hit-and-run 
case.

The HC's action against the two advocates was based on a sting operation.

It was senior advocate Harish Salve who provided the trigger for the 
candid comments from the Bench. The advocate said that while it might 
be fine to fault the journalists involved in the sting operation for 
the methods they used to record the conversation between the two 
advocates and the witness, what was really important was that their 
action had driven home the fact that "the criminal justice system 
faced a serious challenge from such activity".

Salve's opening provided the perfect vent for the Bench to pour out 
its anguish. "Over the years, the fact remains that large number of 
trials have been hijacked by manipulation. The accused have succeeded 
in manipulating the witnesses. The system in which we are involved, 
the judges and lawyers have remained handicapped witnesses," the 
Bench said.

The Bench's expression of helplessness to the apparent pervasiveness 
of the problem in the criminal justice system took on a more serious 
dimension as the judges expressed serious doubts about the competence 
of lower judiciary and waning public faith in it.

Coming to the hit-and-run case and the involvement of two well-known 
lawyers - defence counsel Anand and public prosecutor Khan - and the 
manner in which they allegedly manipulated the witness, the Bench 
said, "What happened in this case is the tip of the iceberg. This is 
a case of accident. We have seen cases involving smuggling of arms, 
RDX, narcotics where the accused get away. But we are helpless."

Salve said not only the judicial system, but there was a general 
tendency in all quarters to disregard the majesty of law and the 
judgments passed by the judiciary. "The apex court has repeatedly 
told the lawyer community not to go on strike. But we do not seem to 
care. The SC has told the police not to handcuff accused, but they 
have scant regard for it. The single directive principle protecting 
bureaucrats has been struck down repeatedly, but it still holds good. 
SC has ordered police reforms, but few states have implemented it," 
he said.

"I belong to a fraternity which has a lot to answer to society," the 
leading lawyer, appearing for NDTV, told the Bench in response to its 
caustic comments on the obnoxious manipulations happening in trials.