Of Bails and Arrests

Some respite for ardent followers of the Kanchi Acharya came yesterday with the bail of Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal, only to be snatched by the arrest of his next in line, Vijayendra Swamigal.

I must say that, my view in this series of arrests is slowly shifting. Initially I thought that if someone has committed a crime, even if he be the highest "Matha" guru, he ought to be punished. But of late, though this standpoint of mine has not changed, I stand to question the legal system.

This case is a murder case, where the person arrested is accused of abetting the crime. There is a certain MP in Bihar (whom I refrain from naming), who has atleast a dozen murder and rape cases where he is directly involved. There is a Supreme Court order which says clearly to arrest him and put him behind bars. This order was never followed, and he was allowed to contest for the election and soon thereafter he even became the MP. This clearly shows how effective the Supreme Court is as far as Bihar police is concerned.

Second example, is that of an MLA of TamilNadu. He was granted a bail (for a murder in which he is the prime accused, wherein he has personally knifed a person to death) by the sessions court, and on the day in which he was supposed to come for the trial, he sends a Jeep attached with a speaker and a Radio to the court. He is of course hiding somewhere safe and he speaks through this radio from there and says that he will not come to the court as it is a conspiracy against him. Even if this guy in question has not committed the crime, he ought to be arrested for this circus act of his. How dare he disobey the bail and go scot free and have the guts to openly flout the law.

Cho Ramaswamy, a popular columnist and editor of the Tuglaq magazine quotes "IF the Sankaracharya had the power to come out in bail, he would rather be a politician and not a Guru" :)

Though I still say that if found guilty, anyone must be punished, but I re-iterate the fact that there is something called as "way in which you treat a person". The Constitution of India has something in it which speaks about the Right to Freedom of Religion. It clearly says that "Every Indian has the right to : Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.-
(1) Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion.... "

In this respect, being a matha guru, he was prevented from performing a large part of his religious practices, which includes eating food cooked by a brahmin, and to perform pujas which are required of him. When politicians have air conditioned bedrooms and all other facilities in jail, a religious leader could have atleast been treated a bit better (not by giving AC room and TV, but by letting him practice his religion the way he was).

Waiting and watching as more things unfold.....