JTSA releases report on acquittals

18/09/2012 Delhi

The Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association released Framed, Damned, Acquitted: Dossiers of a very ‘Special’ Cell. The report was released by Justice Rajender Sachar. The book conslidates accounts of 16 cases of framing and acquittal of innocent Muslim boys, picked up as young as 17 years old. The event had two such falsely charged youth who were released after spending 14 years of their life inside prison cells, going to various trials in different cities to defend themselves against the false charges whilst their family members ran around looking for lawyers but in vain.

The program started with Prof. M. S Bhat, departmentof Economics, Jamia Millia Islamia and President for the JTSA addressing the gathering and giving a sense of how the reports should be taken constructively and objectively and as an aid for providing social entitlements to Indian nationals and should not be seen as anti-governmental.  

Sanghamitra Misra, member of the JTSA and now affiliated with Delhi University gave a brief on the report and pointed out how promotions in the Special cell surpassed those in other departments of the Police and Special Cell officers were awarded with President's Medals et al. for extra-judicial custodies and murders and tampering of evidence and demanded that the state be held accountable for the framing of false charges against boys who are subsequently released, precious years of their lives lost.

Next to speak was Justice Sachar. He congratulated the JTSA on the the hard work they'd put in it their fact-finding research and said such work should be used as building blocks to fight against the inequalities in the society. He quoted the famous like of a German scholar,

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.

commenting that such biases can only be found collectively and that the injustices levelled against members of minorities should not be taken lightly by others. He called for active participation of Indian citizens to share the burden of being alert and aware and use the tools in the constitution to do so. He also talked about the Treason Act 1860 in the Indian Constitution and how it reflected colonial intolerance of the State and needed disbanding for a healthy democracy.
Advocate N. D. Pancholi spoke about domocracy being the responsibility of all citizens, and in a broader picture, people communing to take care of matters and raise their voices against unreported events and misquoted/misrepresentation of facts by the media and an active participation of the Supreme Court in protecting the Special Cell.
Trideep Pais and Jawahar Raja who have worked closely on the report as indepedent lawyers threw light on the dearth of legal aid for innocents under trial and the loopholes in the implementation of law and a misinterpretation of the constitution to suit government needs.
They signed off with, " Law and justice are too important to be left to the Courts and the Judiciary". Reiterating the need for public involvement and alertness in such cases.
Last to speak was Ms. Roy. She discussed the patterns of Police's modus operandi in such cases and the State's role in creating bogeys to militarize, dehumanise and keep their sujects busy with nerve-rattling reports planted with the help of Special Cell's favored journalists in various news media.