It is indeed paradoxical that the man who blames the national media for all of the country's ills has been actually hogging majority limelight in it's recent coverage.
But let's stop pussyfooting around, and come to the germane issue of whether the highly acclaimed criminal lawyer, Mr Ram Jethmalani, who has a deadly track-record of getting confirmed criminals off the hook, has perhaps carried his trademark chutzpah too far in taking up the case of a certain bespectacled young son of a Haryana politician who represents the sleazy gory side of India's super-rich club.
Of course, in a free society no one can challenge his personal predilections and professional pursuits; but is that really the core issue here? Or is it our brittle legal system which is so susceptible that smart manipulation and dubious confessions can turn a clear verdict upside down? Isn't that we really apprehend as Jethmalani takes up a case , which has exposed the shallow , sickeningly slimy side of our vicious politician-police-Page 3 nexus?
Jethmalani is actually quite a past-master at using the power of the media for his own personal agendas. I still remember his outrageous and calculated attempts to embarrass then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with deliberate flimsy provocations by constantly raising his so-called 10 Questions on a regular basis .
I am therefore tempted to adopt his own self-styled format to pose some questions which remain unanswered and in a nebulous haze:
1) Will Mr Jethmalani be kind enough to take up the tragic case of the poor slum dwellers of Carter Road, Bandra, Bombay who have been callously ploughed down by Bombay's version of Manu Sharma; drunken driving, cocky demeanor and a late-night high-speed adventure in a state of supposed " high" inebriation. Will he? Or will Ram establish that the man who drove the car was not Alyster Pereira in a Toyota Corolla but a tall Sikh on a Tonga?
2) Is Mr Jethmalani working for Manu Sharma for " free" as has been widely reported? Is Sharma akin to the innumerable victims of our legal system who languish indefinitely because they cannot afford a sound criminal defense lawyer ? Should Sharma's case be compared with Professor Geelani's , whom Jethmalani rescued from certain gallows?
3) Is the media to be castigated or applauded for having taken up cudgels for Sabrina Lall, now a sole surviving member of a family that has seen tough turbulent times and gradual disintegration? In fact, isn't the media for all it's juvenile obsession for Breaking News and front-page human interest stories, , still a more transparent and quick access point for harassed citizens?
4) I think the media should stop this self-pity / humble- apology trip on celebrity personalities and causes. It is a universal phenomenon that Page 3-type characters and the written-about sort will automatically draw more attention in controversial times. . Therefore, Salman Khan shooting a black-bird is big story; while the relentless poaching of the dwindling tiger population in India is a sporadic issue, until perhaps the Prime Minister gets involved. As a national celebrity, shouldn't Mr Jethmalani be aware of that himself?
5) Mr Jethmalani, do you realize the long-term repercussions should you use your legal acumen to make day-light criminals get-away? It will result in a terrible social backlash against the judicial system , where almost everyone will believe that there exists two different yardsticks for social justice; one for the Lakme Fashion Week kind, and one for those families who wait to watch a Hindi film in a single-screen theatre once a month and go to Chowpaty beach for bhel-puri afterwards.
6) Is Jethmalani taking up this case because there is a massive ego-trip ( like fighting a losing battle against former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee in Lucknow in 2004) ; after all, hasn't he already raised the hornet's nest by taking up the issue, and such cases are usually heads I win, tails you lose type. If Sharma is freed, Jethmalani will be enshrined in Sir Tussauds of legal luminaries; if not, he will be remembered as someone who championed the cause of human freedom et al, the usual claptrap from over-exercised minds.
7) It's one thing to want to passionately defend your client, quite another to altogether use disparaging statements to run-down a gunned-down victim long dead. Is Mr Jethmalani willing to make suitable compensation, including an official apology for delayed justice, should his client be convicted?
8) Mr Jethmalani, should he succeed, will probably end up endangering the very institutions that are supposed to be the bulwark of our civil society; which make the common-man believe that there is justice and fair-play for all. Tomorrow, should we be surprised if a disillusioned lot take law into their hands, fearing the lop-sided nature of our legal process ? After all, don't we all remember the shattering OJ Simpson verdict? Nobody cares who the famous lawyers were; but the world has debated the American legal system and it's perceptible fallibilities. Even today, a large majority of Americans remain horrified that OJ Simpson walked away scot-free, and soon became a Los Angeles tourist trip milestone .
9) Sharma has evidently confessed to the crime , and was also seen making a hurried exit with the concerned revolver in his hand on that eventful day ? Are we ordinary citizens to believe that it is all pure fabrication? A cooked-up morphed spectacle ? Just a fantasy game, a reality TV show, Mr Jethmalani? Under police pressure?
10) I know this sounds grossly asinine in this hard-world of complex laws , brutal facts and standard operating procedure, but is there something called as a moral conscience still alive in us today, a quiet inner voice somewhere in our grim dark world? Should we sell our souls and all our values for professional glory, personal aggrandizement and a puerile defense of those who deserve to be behind cages? Or perhaps we are wrong, but Mr Jethmalani is doing this to purge his troubled soul for allowing several smugglers free transportation in the past, maybe
Mr Jethmalani might still win the case for his client , and create another landmark chart-busting heroic act of crowning glory in his wonderful, successful career. But deep- down inside he will know that he has lost. And it is that deep-down inner conviction , that soft true voice of our own conscience which speaks to us , that really matters.About the AuthorSanjay Jha Sanjay Jha is a hard-core “Congressi” largely on account of being enchanted by the incredible brilliance of the Gandhi-Nehru mystique, its array of in...Read Morefirst published:November 13, 2006, 19:08 ISTlast updated:November 13, 2006, 19:08 IST
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"There are three reasons why lawyers are being used more and more in scientific experiments. First, every year there are more and more of them around. Second, lab assistants don't get attached to them. And, third, there are some things that rats just won't do." Anonymous
It is indeed paradoxical that the man who blames the national media for all of the country's ills has been actually hogging majority limelight in it's recent coverage.
But let's stop pussyfooting around, and come to the germane issue of whether the highly acclaimed criminal lawyer, Mr Ram Jethmalani, who has a deadly track-record of getting confirmed criminals off the hook, has perhaps carried his trademark chutzpah too far in taking up the case of a certain bespectacled young son of a Haryana politician who represents the sleazy gory side of India's super-rich club.
Of course, in a free society no one can challenge his personal predilections and professional pursuits; but is that really the core issue here? Or is it our brittle legal system which is so susceptible that smart manipulation and dubious confessions can turn a clear verdict upside down? Isn't that we really apprehend as Jethmalani takes up a case , which has exposed the shallow , sickeningly slimy side of our vicious politician-police-Page 3 nexus?
Jethmalani is actually quite a past-master at using the power of the media for his own personal agendas. I still remember his outrageous and calculated attempts to embarrass then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with deliberate flimsy provocations by constantly raising his so-called 10 Questions on a regular basis .
I am therefore tempted to adopt his own self-styled format to pose some questions which remain unanswered and in a nebulous haze:
1) Will Mr Jethmalani be kind enough to take up the tragic case of the poor slum dwellers of Carter Road, Bandra, Bombay who have been callously ploughed down by Bombay's version of Manu Sharma; drunken driving, cocky demeanor and a late-night high-speed adventure in a state of supposed " high" inebriation. Will he? Or will Ram establish that the man who drove the car was not Alyster Pereira in a Toyota Corolla but a tall Sikh on a Tonga?
2) Is Mr Jethmalani working for Manu Sharma for " free" as has been widely reported? Is Sharma akin to the innumerable victims of our legal system who languish indefinitely because they cannot afford a sound criminal defense lawyer ? Should Sharma's case be compared with Professor Geelani's , whom Jethmalani rescued from certain gallows?
3) Is the media to be castigated or applauded for having taken up cudgels for Sabrina Lall, now a sole surviving member of a family that has seen tough turbulent times and gradual disintegration? In fact, isn't the media for all it's juvenile obsession for Breaking News and front-page human interest stories, , still a more transparent and quick access point for harassed citizens?
4) I think the media should stop this self-pity / humble- apology trip on celebrity personalities and causes. It is a universal phenomenon that Page 3-type characters and the written-about sort will automatically draw more attention in controversial times. . Therefore, Salman Khan shooting a black-bird is big story; while the relentless poaching of the dwindling tiger population in India is a sporadic issue, until perhaps the Prime Minister gets involved. As a national celebrity, shouldn't Mr Jethmalani be aware of that himself?
5) Mr Jethmalani, do you realize the long-term repercussions should you use your legal acumen to make day-light criminals get-away? It will result in a terrible social backlash against the judicial system , where almost everyone will believe that there exists two different yardsticks for social justice; one for the Lakme Fashion Week kind, and one for those families who wait to watch a Hindi film in a single-screen theatre once a month and go to Chowpaty beach for bhel-puri afterwards.
6) Is Jethmalani taking up this case because there is a massive ego-trip ( like fighting a losing battle against former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee in Lucknow in 2004) ; after all, hasn't he already raised the hornet's nest by taking up the issue, and such cases are usually heads I win, tails you lose type. If Sharma is freed, Jethmalani will be enshrined in Sir Tussauds of legal luminaries; if not, he will be remembered as someone who championed the cause of human freedom et al, the usual claptrap from over-exercised minds.
7) It's one thing to want to passionately defend your client, quite another to altogether use disparaging statements to run-down a gunned-down victim long dead. Is Mr Jethmalani willing to make suitable compensation, including an official apology for delayed justice, should his client be convicted?
8) Mr Jethmalani, should he succeed, will probably end up endangering the very institutions that are supposed to be the bulwark of our civil society; which make the common-man believe that there is justice and fair-play for all. Tomorrow, should we be surprised if a disillusioned lot take law into their hands, fearing the lop-sided nature of our legal process ? After all, don't we all remember the shattering OJ Simpson verdict? Nobody cares who the famous lawyers were; but the world has debated the American legal system and it's perceptible fallibilities. Even today, a large majority of Americans remain horrified that OJ Simpson walked away scot-free, and soon became a Los Angeles tourist trip milestone .
9) Sharma has evidently confessed to the crime , and was also seen making a hurried exit with the concerned revolver in his hand on that eventful day ? Are we ordinary citizens to believe that it is all pure fabrication? A cooked-up morphed spectacle ? Just a fantasy game, a reality TV show, Mr Jethmalani? Under police pressure?
10) I know this sounds grossly asinine in this hard-world of complex laws , brutal facts and standard operating procedure, but is there something called as a moral conscience still alive in us today, a quiet inner voice somewhere in our grim dark world? Should we sell our souls and all our values for professional glory, personal aggrandizement and a puerile defense of those who deserve to be behind cages? Or perhaps we are wrong, but Mr Jethmalani is doing this to purge his troubled soul for allowing several smugglers free transportation in the past, maybe
Mr Jethmalani might still win the case for his client , and create another landmark chart-busting heroic act of crowning glory in his wonderful, successful career. But deep- down inside he will know that he has lost. And it is that deep-down inner conviction , that soft true voice of our own conscience which speaks to us , that really matters.
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