Jail For Jaya:

September 29/2014 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK Supremo Ms. J Jayalalithaa has been sentenced to imprisonment for 4 years and she has been ordered to pay  a fine of 100 crores. The sentencing Judge John Michael D’Cunha of the Special District Court at Bangalore is no known legal luminary.

She has lost both the Chief Minister post and the MLA seat in a single go, after the court declared her guilty in a corruption case. That the case has just passed the first post after a legal engagement lasting as many as 18 years speaks volumes about the snail’s pace of the justice system in this country. Jayalalithaa may have lost her power, reputation, and the governmental paraphernalia that was at her beck and call but, knowing her as we all do, she is a leader who has demonstrated her resilience against odds in the past and is still left with the grit and determination to fight another battle, drag the case further and possibly get out of the trouble in due course of time.

Notably, there was a unique perseverance on the part of Subramaniam Swamy, as also Jaya’s political rival the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), to pursue the case to its logical conclusion. In the process, the case ambled its way to the Supreme Court, which in turn rolled it back to the special court and have it tried from outside the state, namely Bangalore. Some may think the Supreme Court, by directing that the trial should be outside Tamil Nadu, gave an indirect indication as to what it wanted the outcome to be. 

Political alignments apart, Swamy on his own has been pursuing several cases in different spheres, and his efforts have a maniacal nature to them insofar as he pushes his cases forward, and they often  served a social purpose. On the other hand, this was another political fight for the DMK, that otherwise has no locus standi to push a corruption case, as the party is widely seen as being at the apex of corruption in this country. The 2G Spectrum scam that saw one of its Central ministers behind the bars was just one among the many such issues that the party is involved. Having failed to confront Jayalalithaa in the political tug of war, it is but natural that it chose the legal way and made a killing out of it. All the same time, it is doubtful as to whether this judgement alone can help it take the wind out of the AIADMK leader’s sails. Her popularity, as per recent reckoning, is at its height.

Jayalalithaa will go down in history for this particular judgement, not necessarily as a corrupt politician who had to bite the dust but more likely as someone who suffered because of the terrible bias that the Indian judiciary is now being recognized to possess.

Institutions, especially in nations as fissiparous as India, are built over long periods of time. With the Parliament, Judiciary and Bureaucracy working at cross purposes, it is becoming even more difficult to bring about cohesiveness in this country. In the present situation, many a self righteous self proclaimed intelligentsia would raise a toast for the imprisonment of Jayalalithaa. They would, most probably, loudly proclaim that this is another big nail in the coffin of ‘corruption’.

In reality, this single judgement highlights the crumbling of another fragile institution. That Jayalalithaa needed to be punished for her past deeds needs no assertion whatsoever. Anyone corrupt needs to be treated with the harshest punishment. People like Ranjit Sinha (the Director of CBI), A Raja, former CJIs Sathasivam and KG Balakrsnan and Altamus Kabir, journalists like Burkha Dutt and so many others in every walk of life, all deserve to have a few Subramaniam Swamys chasing them with equal ferocity to run them down and expose the ‘real’ them. Unfortunately however, we Indians are not interested in bringing about an equitable justice system.

This results in ruining our democracy. It is true that many of our politicians are corrupt and inefficient. Yet, they are the only fruits of the system that are reachable for the common man. Whether any one wants it or not, they are the only ones who have to approach us common citizens at intervals for redeeming their careers. The others, whether it be the judiciary, industry, media or the bureaucracy, they all feel and strongly believe that we, the people, are fools and are not aware of anything that happens around us. They are convinced we are born to be their slaves because we are an ignorant mass of idiots. These modern day sahibs ‘know’ that only if they handle things according to their superior intelligence will this country thrive.

Thrive for whom? Thrive for them and them alone. Therefore, a system such as our democracy is an abhorrent aberration. All those who vote are fools and uneducated. All those who are voted and win in elections are all crooks of the highest order who deserve to be snubbed, looked down upon and whenever the opportunity arises, sent packing to prison. Jayalalithaa is the victim of such a mindset.

To please the BJP and especially Damodardass Modi, the whole set up is bending backward. The CBI, Courts, bureaucrats and especially the moneyed industry/business lobby is gung-ho in its mission to destroy all smaller forces that keep democracy healthy and fit. For them, every Jayalalithaa, Mamata or even a Naveen is a thorn on the side of those who want unbridled exploitation of this country. Judges such as John Michael D’Cunha may be no-nonsense types in their own spheres but for them it is impossible to realize what damage they are causing to the nation. It is a matter of great regret that it is people such as him who are increasing in numbers. To see their names and faces flashed on front pages or on telly screens is a wonderful dream that their mundane petty existence would have never offered them. What an opportunity such as this indictment offers is more like a flash-in-the-pan situation that is not a result of a life long struggle but rather a moment of fun. At what cost!