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No one killed Pehlu Khan

By Amulya Ganguli. Dated: 9/22/2017 1:02:45 AM

Justice beyond reach in India

Just as the judiciary could not at first ascertain who shot dead a model, Jessica Lal, at a New Delhi bar in April, 1999, because of lack of evidence, the Rajasthan police has been unable to find out who were the killers of a Muslim dairy farmer, Pehlu Khan, near Alwar last April.
The reason why no evidence was initially found in the 1999 case was believed to be related to the fact that the killer was the son of an influential Congress politician.
It is no secret that proving a suspect's guilt in a court of law is not the easiest of tasks, especially if the person has powerful backers because witnesses are often intimidated into playing deaf and dumb. Besides, the police themselves are not regarded as the most honest and conscientious of public servants.
Jessica Lal's assassin was finally convicted by a higher court, which took up the matter after a public outcry since the murder took place in full view of several people, including a few celebrities. Whether justice will be similarly done in Pehlu Khan's case cannot be said for certain because of the disturbing initial impressions.
These include the fact that although the victim was beaten up in broad daylight by a group of cow vigilantes on a busy thoroughfare and their acts were caught on camera, the police have been unable to nail the assailants.
His dying declaration, too, has been ignored, probably for first time in such cases. His naming of the accused, therefore, with his last breath has been to no avail.
What might have been thought at first to be an open-and-shut case has been derailed by claims that the assailants were present elsewhere at the time of the incident. Their mobile transmissions are also said to have confirmed these assertions on their behalf.
This is not the first time that the law does not appear to follow its own course in a state ruled by the BJP. After the 2002 riots in Gujarat, as many as 2,000 cases were closed for lack of evidence. It was only after the Supreme Court's intervention that the more prominent among them such as the Bilkis Banu and Best Bakery cases were reopened and even transferred to courts outside Gujarat so that fair trials could be conducted.
It is not surprising that Pehlu Khan's family also wants the trial to be held outside Rajasthan because they do not trust the local police and administration. In any event, since the Supreme Court is being approached, it is likely that justice will ultimately be done.
What the episode highlights, however, is the widely acknowledged reality of everyday life in India where ordinary people are helpless if they fall foul of powerful adversaries which, in this case, seemingly comprise not only Pehlu Khan's ideologically motivated assailants, but also the official and political establishment.
For the average citizens, therefore, pursuing their avocations can sometimes be like walking on egg-shells lest they find themselves at the wrong place in the wrong time as it happened in Pehlu Khan's case. If that happens, disaster can strike like a bolt from the blue with no hope for respite even if they approach the guardians of the law.
At such moments, the entire gamut of the mighty government appears to be ranged against the hapless victim of a fateful coincidence. His only hope at such a despairing time lies in the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, which is still able to sift the chaff from the grain - false evidence from the unvarnished truth - and deliver justice.
India, therefore, still remains several steps behind the advanced countries in the matter of the dispensation of justice because the long arm of the law has lost its meaning of being relentless and unerring in ferreting out the guilty.
The legal infirmities are due to the partisan control exercised by politicians over the law-enforcing agencies. This control extends from the local thana to the CBI, which is why the Supreme Court has called the country's premier investigating organization a "caged parrot" in the government's hands.
The result of the government's stifling control is that the police rarely stand four square by the side of the innocent civilian when he or she is in trouble. Instead, they first look to the politicians for instructions which are usually given verbally and abide by them even if they are violative of the law and penalize the victim at the expense of the suspects.
Pehlu Khan's family members may rue the fact, therefore, that the apex court's directive to state governments to depute officials specifically to act against the cow vigilantes has come too late in the day for them.
However, even if such officials are posted, there is no guarantee that they will act impartially if the accused have political support. The only way out is to free the police from political control in accordance with the 2006 Supreme Court directive in this respect. But it has been ignored by all ruling politicians - communal or secular - because they do not want to relinquish their control over a key lever of power.
—(IPA Service)