Anyways, its been 24 hrs to this news and the shock still has not sunken. Mr. Ram Jethmalani, has decided to defend Manu Sharma. Watching the news my head was spinning about because his one decision has a cascading effect.
The question that arises here is who is Ram Jethmalani? Ram Jethmalani is one of the oldest and respected lawyers of this country. He has been in this profession for over six decades. He has also been a member of Parliament. So, what is the big deal in him taking up the case?
Firstly, the feel good factor and the faith restored in the judiciary system which was created by the verdict against Santosh Singh, seems to be fading. Secondly, it is just sending all the wrong signals to people around the country. At the end of it all, it testifies law is all about power and money. No matter how much hype has been created in a case and high is the culpability of the person, big lawyers will take up and defend murderers. Murderers will roam around scot free and rich brat kids shall escape. The power which people believed they had through online petitions, candle-night vigils and other tools to protest seem unfruitful and sheer waste. Thirdly, what about the students who look up to this man and read all his cases as their bible? Mr. Ram Jethmalani serves as an example to various budding lawyers. His popularity as a lawyer is unsurpassed. He actually appeared on a televison show called Siddhanth, a show on the story of a lawyer. The protagonist was shown to be a big fan of Mr. Ram Jethmalani.
Mr. Ram Jethmalani has taken up various cases which have been very unpopular. For example, he defended Harshad Mehta and also the killer of former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. This time, the circumstances are quite different. The Jessica Lall case has been a model case. In this case, there is more than what meets the eye. A minister's son murders in front of so many people and is acquitted. The police obviously mishandled the case because of the big connection of the convict. Witnesses in the case had turned hostile. This case does not question the convict only but the entire system. Obvioulsy, Mr. Ram Jethmalani when defending Manu Sharma would not be defending Manu Sharma but the entire system. He would be defending faulty police officials. He would be defending the rich kid sons attitudes and actually assuring them, "Yes, you can get away with anything in life because of power." He wold be defending a judicial system which cannot even protect the interests of its citizens and provide the basic constitutional remedies available. Yes, we heard Mr. Ram Jethmalani saying my profession has its rules and I am bound by them. Sir, what about the rules of humanity and your binding towards them? It only makes me as a citizen feels helpless. I never believed in the courts but the Matto verdict gave me hope. A hope that if I knock on doors for justice, I shall get it. Even if I do not, there is hope given to me by the media. So many petitions were signed and SMS's were sent in the Jessica Lall case. It made all those posessing power think twice before any action of theirs. Mr. Ram Jethmalani's decison washes all of this and crumbles efforts of so many to dust .
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Ram Jethmalani has taken up the case of Manu Sharma, the accused in the Jessica Lall case. Here’s one such editorial from Barkha Dutt if you’re interested.
I don’t know why everyone’s getting worked up about this. The accused needs a lawyer. He’s got the money and he’s picked up one of the better ones. Now, if the case is as open and shut as the media would have us believe, there should be no problem in getting a conviction.
According to the media, the accused is guilty in the court of media justice. So, why is there such an uproar? Moral grounds? Insert lawyer joke here.
Could it be because there is now a fear that Manu Sharma could actually be acquitted by Jethmalani? Are there holes in the case that Jethmalani can use to acquit his client? Or legal loopholes? I don’t know but it seems like that would cause people to be upset.
While you’re chewing on that, here are excerpts (cut and paste) of an interview that Jethmalani did with Sagarika Ghose (Gosh, according to the story):
Sagarika Gosh: But as a criminal lawyer, don’t you believe there is a lakshman rekha that even all criminal lawyers have to work under?
Ram Jethmalani: I am sorry. Please don’t talk of this bull shit to me. I know what my lakshman rekha’s are. I have read my rules of the conduct of a lawyer. It will be the saddest day when a lawyer refuses to stand between the state and the final verdict.
…
Sagarika Gosh: What is the Press doing?
Ram Jethmalani: You are carrying on sedulous campaign of creating prejudice against a man who is standing his trial and who has already been acquitted in one court.
…
Sagarika Gosh: There are a few tapes that have been done by various investigative agencies that show witnesses are all falsifying their accounts.
Ram Jethmalani: Those tapes are not worth the paper they are written. Police can manufacture any confessions. That is why our law is that any confessions recorded and kept by the police are not to be looked at. You are trying to look at inadmissible material causing prejudice in the judicial mind when the judges have no right to look at that evidence.
From the interview, it seems like Jethmalani is pissed with the trial-by-media that this case has become.
I dont understand what Mr Jethmalani is trying to prove.If he keeps hiding behind
his profession,he is surely going to lose the respect of the budding lawyers.Its disgraceful behaviour from the man who was considered to be good enough to contest against Mr Vajpayee during the LS elections...
Thanks Pradeep. I really appreciate it. I just hope Ram Jethmalani is not defending Manu Sharma to teach media a lesson. It would be a sad thing.
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