Can there be two types of justice delivery systems in the same country? This question came to one’s mind with the U-turn taken by NIA in the cases related to terror acts in which many Hindu names were involved. The NIA in a fresh charge sheet (May 13, 2016) has dropped the charges against Pragya Singh Thakur and lightened the ones against Col Purohit and others. Along with this, the new line of NIA is that Hemant Karkare’s investigation in these cases was flawed and that it was ATS which had got the RDX planted in Purohit’s residence to implicate him in this case. The implication is that all this was being done at the behest of previous UPA government.
A brief recap is in order. Maharashtra in particular and many other places in the country were witness to acts of terror in the recent past. The first major attention to this phenomenon took place when two Bajrang Dal activists were killed while making bombs in the house of one RSS worker Rajkondawar in Nanded (April 2006). There was a saffron flag flying atop the house and a board of Bajrang Dal was put up in front of the house. At the site of bomb explosion fake moustaches, beard and pajama-kurta were also found. This was followed by several blasts elsewhere in Maharashtra: Parbhani, Jalna, Thane, Panvel etc. In most of these cases, police investigated along the lines in which generally Muslims were blamed for such acts. After every blast incident few Muslim young men were arrested who after long grueling court cases; were released as no evidence was found against them.
The Malegaon blast in which Sadhvi’s role came to surface took place in 2008. In the blasts those returning from namaz (prayers) were killed and many injured. Following the incident the usual suspects, Muslims, were arrested. Then while investigating the cases the Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare found that the motorcycle used for the blast belonged to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, ex- ABVP worker. The trail of investigation led to Swami Dayanad Pande, Retd. Major Upadhyay, Ramji Kalsangra, Swami Aseemanand amongst others. They all belonged to Hindu right wing outfits. There was lot of evidence in the material recovered. One of the helpful evidence came in the form of the legally valid confession of Swami Aseemanand. This confession was made in judicial custody in presence of a magistrate.
In his confession Swami spilled the beans admitting that after the Sankat Mochan temple blast of 2006 in Varanasi, they had decided that bomb will be replied by bomb. The Swamy was then looking after the VHP work in Dangs. He gave a detailed narrative of the whole process in which all the people were investigated and became part of the charge sheet of NIA.
When Karakare was investigating the case and many Hindu names started surfacing under the scanner, then Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray wrote in Saamna, "We spit on the face of Karakare". Narendra Modi; then CM of Gujarat; called him Deshdrohi (Anti National). Advani also reprimanded Karkare. Feeling the heat of this pressure from Hindutva political outfits Karkare went to meet his professional peer Julio Rebeiro who has a record of high professional integrity. Rebeiro appreciated Karkare's painstaking work. Karkare sought Ribeiro's advice on what should be his stand when facing such heat from politicians. The retired officer told him to honestly do his work and ignore all insinuations.
Meanwhile the global terror phenomenon hit Mumbai. On 26/11 ten terrorists, armed to the teeth attacked Mumbai. On this occasion Karkare got killed. There is a strong controversy about this killing also. The then minority affairs minister AR Antulay said that there was terrorism plus something else which is behind the killing of Karkare. Modi who had earlier called Karkare 'Deshdrohi' landed up in Mumbai and wanted to give a cheque of Rs. One Crore to widow of Karkare. She refused to accept the amount.
After Karkare’s death the investigations continued on the lines laid down by him. The charge sheet was ready and all the involved were to be tried for acts of terror. Meanwhile government changed at the Centre and the NIA adopted the line which has led to the present situation where the efforts to release Sadhvi are afoot at high speed. The change in the line was reflected in the statement of Public Prosecutor, Rohini Salian. She stated that she was told to go soft on these cases. As she refused to toe the scripted line she was sacked.
One recalls that in Mumbai 92-93 violence over one thousand people died. This carnage was followed by the bomb blasts in which over two hundred people died. As far as the communal carnage is concerned not many got severe punishments, no death penalty- no life imprisonment. In the cases of bomb blasts many have been given death penalty and many more life imprisonment. One of the people undergoing life imprisonment is Rubina Memon. Her crime, she owned the car which was used to ferry the explosives. She never drove the car with explosives.
Sadhvi owned the motor cycle used for Malegaon blasts; she will be out from the prison soon. Rubina owned the car; she will be in prison all her life. In Mumbai carnage so many died. No severe punishment to anybody. So many severe punishments in bomb blast case!
So where does our democracy stand at the end of all this? It seems that two type of justice delivery systems are out there in the open. While shrill debates on TV defend Sadhvi and blame Karkare for faulty investigation, the people in Malegaon are protesting furiously and planning to go to court against the change in the stance of NIA. Two political parties seem to be preparing to save the honor of Karkare and press for sincere examination of the evidence collected by him.
One hopes the guilty will be punished and innocents will be protected. But this seems a bit too much to expect in current scenario!