----------------------------------------------------------------------- Documented by Goa Desc Documentation Service & circulated by Goa Civic & Consumer Action Network (GOA CAN)<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Ph:2252660 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Crime And Punishment ----------------------------------- What happened on Sunday at the open forum on crime against women organised by the Rotary Club of Panjim in association with the Goan People's Forum dramatised that the DeputyInspector General of Police, Karnal Singh and the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar while being hypersensitive to political imperatives are indifferent to everything else.
At the opening forum a woman from Taleigao protested vehemently over the humiliation that her husband and brother in law had been subjected to at the behest of the Town and Country Planning Minister, Babush Monserrate. They alleged that apart from being tortured, the husband and brother in law were paraded in their underclothes from the residence of the former mayor Bashico Branco to the residence of the Town and Country Planning Minister, Babush Monserrate through the road in front of the residence of former Taleigao MLA, Somnath Zuwarkar.
Initially the Chief Minister who was present declined to comment on the issue despite, repeated requests from advocate Satish Sonak that they should be heard.Subsequently, however, the Chief Minister charged that the victims had a criminal record. That the whole incident was a gang war. That naked swords were flashed around.
That the Minister for Town and Country Planning was not even in Goa when the incident happened. The Chief Minister admitted that the parading of the accused was wrong and that if it had happened, the concerned officer would be punished. While the Chief Minister made several allegations, the wife of the accused and a group of women who had accompanied her were not allowed to speak by the organisers.
When Satish Sonak took a cordless mike to let them have their say, the moderator Meenakshi Martins cut off the power supply to the mike. Contrary to all Rotary and democratic traditions the accused's wife, a woman, who was seeking justice at the forum for women was not allowed to speak which we believe is against all principles of fair play.
If the Chief Minister can make charges based on information fed to him by the police in front of four to five hundred people, surely the lady should have an equal right to respond.
Worse was to follow. Advocate Satish Sonak pleaded with the Chief Minister that since the accusations involved a member of the cabinet headed by the Chief Minister it would not be realistic to expect the police to conduct a non-partisan and objective inquiry. This was in the context of the disclosure that the Deputy Superintendent, Vaman Tari had been asked to probe in the matter of the accused being stripped and paraded in their underclothes.
Satish Sonak pleaded that the Chief Minister should order a judicial inquiry into the incident. The Chief Minister has no great love for the judiciary. Not surpisingly, the Chief Minister turned around and insisted that there was no guarantee that a judicial inquiry would be fair and objective. The Chief Minister went further and insisted that he knew of corruption within the judiciary.
He claimed that he had a file in his brief case with allegations that a multinational had paid Rs 1 lakh or more to a judge. Nor is this the first time the Chief Minister has engaged in judiciary bashing.
It will be recalled that at the height of the controversy over excess payments made to the former additional advocate general,Thali the Chief Minister had accused the judiciary of appointing sweepers irregularly without following the proper procedure.
Never mind the Chief Minister's attempts to bend the rules to appoint a director of education .We have in the past been hauled up by the judiciary for contempt of court suo moto for much smaller transgressions. Surely the Chief Minister is guilty of contempt in insinuating that judges are corrupt. Even if judges are corrupt, surely the Chief Minister if he has the proof can approach the Chief Justice and have them removed.
In fact Satish Sonak was prompt enough in asking the Chief Minister to sack judges whom he considered corrupt. We hope the Chief Minister will forward the evidence he claims he has to the Chief Justice.
It is obvious that the Chief Minister is peeved over the fact that the judiciary passed strictures over the manner in which the investigation into the marks leakage scam was conducted.
But this is not the issue. The police unofficially admit that they did strip the accused to their shorts and paraded them. Their excuse or alibi is that this was part of the process of conducting a panchanama.
They also acknowledge that the person alleged to have been assaulted is also a notorious goonda with over 60 cases pending against him. But apparently the police have never been able to conduct a similar panchanama in his case because he has powerful political patronage.
In any case apparently the goon who was assaulted is in hospital. Perhaps a medical board should be constituted to find out how serious his injuries are or whether he has taken refuge in the hospital, as the accused in cases routinely do.
And talking of people with criminal, records the honourable Minister for Town and Country Planning has been chargesheeted in an extortion case. At various stages there were cases filed against him, going back to the nineties when he along with some bright young spirits were alleged to have attempted to cut teak wood trees in the property of a former mayor Dr Inacio Sa in Ribandar with an electric saw attached to a car battery. The wood was apparently for the mansion that Babush Monserrate built in Taleigao.
Of course everyone is innocent till proved guilty beyond the shadow of reasonable doubt. This applies equally even to hardened criminals as the Chief Minister himself admits. The issue really is why are some history sheeters and some hardened criminals singled out for special panchanamas which involve stripping in public.
Surely no section of the Criminal Procedure Code or any Police Act sanctions the public humiliation of the accused live alone those who have been convicted. Surely such acts are a violation of human rights.
And surely the Chief Minister would like to persuade not just the Herald but all the residents of Goa that the law and order machinery does not selectively harass, victimise and humiliate criminals or even ordinary citizens on political grounds.
And while talking off the exemplary performance of the police we should perhaps point out that citizens particularly businessmen are routinely summoned to police stations on Saturday nights for questioning and detaining. This is done because the junior police personnel are aware that businessmen would readily pay whatever is demanded rather than spend a weekend in jail.
We know of an instance where a businessman was summoned to the Mapusa Police Station by a Police Sub Inspector called Bhandari for some inquiry in a civil case on a Saturday evening and arrested without a warrant. Fortunately for the businessman concerned a friend saw him at the police station and got him bailed out. We would happy to furnish the Chief Minister with the details. --------------------------------------------- Editorial in the HERALD 1/7/03 ---------------------------------------------
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