Lesson on unnao

Politicians wield immense power in their turf. All the more crucial for courts to be alert to judicial missteps

Supreme Court acted not a minute too soon in staying Delhi HC’s order that had suspended Kuldip Singh Sengar’s life sentence, while SC hears the case, Jan 20 the next date. He was also found guilty of orchestrating custodial killing of the survivor’s father. SC noted the case’s ‘peculiar circumstances’ to stay Delhi HC’s order. Indeed, circumstances Delhi HC should have heeded.

SC has questioned Delhi HC’s interpretation that an MLA is not a ‘public servant’. The immense power netas wield over the public is no secret. Criminal cases fall through all the time because of the toxic politician-police-official nexus that uses bribery, intimidation, blackmail, coaxing and even murder to derail the victim’s fight for justice. Against this backdrop, a literal reading of the law – that MLA isn’t mentioned as a ‘public servant’ – does less than justice to context and circumstance.

Sengar’s family, on its part, misread SC’s order to allege they were not heard. But SC has already spoken on this – that it normally doesn’t stay a bail order without hearing the accused, but Sengar’s case involved ‘exceptional circumstances’ since the convict remains behind bars, doing time for the father’s death, in which also a bail plea is pending, with orders reserved. As his case is heard in court – a high-profile convict whose files seem to move relatively swiftly – Sengar’s daughter has also alleged trolling. This must be condemned. It is no better than bulldozer justice SC has so strongly censured.

As for the case in court, SC’s stay of HC’s order shows consistency and stability in court decisions and assurance of fairness. In cases such as Sengar’s, this fosters public confidence in judiciary. Simply put, justice applied evenly is what makes a victim a survivor.

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