Land grab: Why it is important to prove Robert Vadra guilty
by Akshaya Mishra Aug 11, 2013
Let’s start with a clean slate. Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is innocent in the Haryana land grab case. One of the fundamental principles of our justice system is one is innocent until proven guilty. Let’s assume it is immaterial what IAS officer Ashok Khemka says in his report submitted to the Haryana government – it is only his version of what actually happened. We have not heard of a response from the state government yet and the judiciary has not come into the picture fully. Thus, Vadra deserves the benefit of the doubt. So he is innocent.
Now, here’s the challenge. Let anybody, the media with all the resources at their command, the investigating agencies with all their access to documents, the judiciary with all the authority it has and the opposition parties with whatever argument they have against Vadra, prove that he is guilty. If they manage that it would be a watershed moments for India in its battle against corruption. One single case could define India’s character once and for all.
PTI
How? It would expose the way the politically powerful misuse the system to their advantage. It would reveal the politician-bureaucrat nexus that has made our democracy so ineffective and anti-common man. It would also tell us whether the media are only concerned about making noise and attracting eyeballs or they have the genuine intention to anything good for the country. If anything is wrong about India, the correction should start from this case. Vadra is powerful because he is politically well-connected. And the common perception is that such people get away with anything, even murder. His case should be made an example. And yes, we are still not saying he is guilty.
One big conviction would do the country a world of good.
The problem with us as a country is we love talking. We talk too much and do too little. Hardly any of the big ticket corruption cases has reached a conclusion and the courts hardly find the big boys guilty. It’s common knowledge that the conviction rate of the poor in India is much higher than the rich and powerful. The reason is simple: the poor cannot afford the services of competent lawyers while the latter can. This explains why the number of politicians and corporate sectors players are negligible in India.
If we are serious about equal justice for all, it should start with a judicial machinery that is equal for all. Unfortunately, that is not the case in the country. Vadra’s case should bring out the lacunae in our system to the open.
Of course, we rail about the political class, corruption, rape and what not. We are creatures of habit. We do that – candlelight processions, rallies and full volume shouting during television channel debates - because we don’t know what else to do. Girls are raped everywhere in the country and our response is to attack the government and seek its overthrow. We never demand efficient policing and changes in the policing system. The next government comes, the same things happen and our response remains the same.
Politicians understand we are idiots. We would protest but won’t go beyond a point. Because we don’t know what is there beyond a point. Cases would be registered – these would be either be watered down at the level of the police officials or taken care of by the lawyers in courts.
The big fish would always find ways to escape. The system has left enough deliberate loopholes for that. The media making a lot of noise about corruption and misuse of power by the politically and otherwise powerful cases actually serves no purpose. If they are good enough, they should have at least one big person behind the bars.
We can start with Vadra. It’s a challenge. It is possible he is not guilty, but a thorough probe into his case would tell us where the country has gone wrong while dealing with the rich and the powerful. If he is not guilty, then an apology is in order. This is for the sake of decency.
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