G D Sharma
On February 09, 2016 Jawahar Lal Nehru University students organised an event to mark the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru who was hanged in Tihar Jail on February 09, 2013. The University witnessed violence between two student groups on the mid night of the same day. Anti-India slogans were raised at the event. Another meeting was held at the Press Club of India in Delhi on Wednesday (10-02-2016) where too anti-India slogans were raised and placards displayed. The slogans raised and speeches made at both the functions have been seen and heard by a large number of watchers of television programmes. In the events, commemoration of hanged convict Maqbool Bhatt founder President of Unlawful Organisation namely, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front was also made. Secession of the State of J&K from Union of India was also sought.
These events have become the genesis of the present day hot controversy which has been generated by insensitive self serving politicians in order to play vote bank politics. Some pseudo-nationalist have also joined their bandwagon. They are defending the acts of those persons who openly have gone to the extent of defaming and degenerating the judicial system up to the top by openly saying that their hangings were, “Judicial Killings”. The authorities at the helm of the affairs have taken the cognizance of the crimes committed by concerned persons and invoked the provision of Section 124 – A IPC read with other relevant violations of Law. Top ranking Politicians in the company of some accomplished lawyers who have turned Politicians have started justifying the conduct of inculpated leaders of those events. I am a member of Judicial fraternity for the last 55 years and as a Judge for 40 years in the State of Jammu and Kashmir have in hand experience of dealing with cases from the year 1980 to the year 2001 and thereafter from 2006 to 2011 in the volatile State of Jammu and Kashmir while dealing with thousand numbers of militants and prominent banned militant organisations as well as a number of ruling class politicians who were found their sympathisers. The present day politicians should know that the only religion of a Judge is to uphold the Rule of law while deciding the cases without any fear or favour. The Judges in the State of J&K barring few exceptions have stood to the trial of the times. The Supreme Court of India while deciding the cases against the above stated terrorists have not shown any favour or disfavour to anybody but passed the final orders on merits. This fact can be known to the sympathisers of above stated militants that some of the co-accused had secured acquittals from the Supreme Court also. A Judge has neither power of sword nor of purse but power of Public faith while discharging the sacred duty of dispensing Justice not on face value but on case value. When people would lose faith in the Judiciary there would be anarchy. The Judiciary is the last hope of every peace living citizen including criminals and politicians too. In the State of Jammu and Kashmir militancy bred because the rulers at the material time had forgotten to uphold the “Raj Dharma” by forgetting the oath administered to them to uphold the Constitution of India and the State as well as the laws made there under.
The result was that militants had hijacked four organs of the State and established their Islamic courts in rural areas of Kashmir valley. The present day politicians seem to be playing same type of game which was played at one time in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
It would be advantageous for them to know from my book titled “Plight of Jammu and Kashmir- The Unknown Files” that the seeds of ongoing militancy till present day were sown before the year 1980. This fact I realised while trying the case of above said Maqbool Bhatt relating to Bank dacoity cum murder. He and his associates were later on acquitted at the end of this case. Relevant details in short of this case along with some examples can be found in my above stated book which throws sufficient light how politicians had shown favours to the militants and uttered seditious utterances. Reference of sedition cases can be found at page 305 of the book against a top ranking politician. I am flabbergasted to know how Competent Politician Lawyers are taking the refuge under the Fundamental Right of Speech and Expression that implicated persons for the commission of act of sedition read with other offences are innocent because no violence has taken place in any of the event. This is not the correct view because the Supreme Court in the case of Nazir Khan and Others vs State of Delhi 2003 (6) Supreme 234 has held, “that Section 124-A IPC deals with Sedition which is a crime against the society nearly allied to that of treason, and it frequently proceeds treason by a short interval. Sedition embraces all those practices, whether by word, deed, or writing, which are calculated to disturb the tranquillity of the State and lead ignorant persons to endeavour to subvert the government and laws of the country. It is disloyalty in action, and the law considers as Sedition all those practices which have for their object to excite discontent or dissatisfaction, to create public disturbance, or to lead to civil war, to bring into hatred or contempt the sovereign or the government, the laws or the Constitution of the realm, and generally all endeavours to promote public disorder.”
I leave it to the judicial discretion of enlightened readers of this article to decide for themselves how some of the disgruntled politicians of our country are behaving to bring disrepute and disrespect to the established Judicial system by forgetting that their contemplated short term gains ultimately would lead the Country to her disintegration.
(The author is former Judge, Jammu and Kashmir High Court)
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