'Prolonged trials tilt the scales'

Rahul Chhabra / TNN / Feb 22, 2006, 00:15 IST

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A trial that lasted for seven years, high-profile accused and transfer of some judicial officers.

NEW DELHI: A trial that lasted for seven years, high-profile accused and transfer of some judicial officers. These are, perhaps, the main reasons for the acquittal of the nine accused in the Jessica Lal murder case.
As additional sessions judge S L Bhayana acquitted Manu Sharma and eight others, it marked the end of a trial whose outcome may not have come as a surprise to some, including Jessica's kin.Jessica's family had, probably, lost hope much before. As one of the prosecutor said: "They had stopped attending the hearing long back."
Experts blamed the prosecution's failure on poor investigation and collection of evidence. B B Pande, former law teacher, Delhi University, described it as a case of differential application of law in the case of persons with good socio-economic standing.
"Our system is such that while dealing with an influential person, the law is applied differently, as compared to the common man, be it at the time of arrest, investigation or trial," Pande said.

Criminal lawyer and lecturer at the DU Campus Law centre Santosh Kumar agreed: "Investigators do not apply the usual pressure on the accused and witnesses if they are high profile."
In the Priyadarshini Mattoo case, decided in 1999, the CBI is yet to appeal against the verdict. Pande blames prolonged trials for witnesses losing interest or turning hostile. "People get fed up running around in courts and waiting for justice," he says.

"The longer a trial is, the greater are the chance of witnesses failing to recall the incident. They then get exposed during cross-examination. This is an outcome of procedural delays caused by our system," says senior advocate P N Lekhi.
In Jessica's case, three witnesses turned hostile. Key witness Shyan Munshi, on whose statement the FIR was lodged, did not support the prosecution theory about the people who shot the model.
Unlike the US, time-bound trial is not the norm here, said advocate Saurabh Sharma. "In America, a time-bound disposal of a case is a constitutional guarantee. A time-frame is specified for completion of different stages of trial in different cases in the US."
Lawyers were divided over the issue of transfer of judicial officers during trial having a bearing on the case. Lekhi said the verdict was based on evidence taken on record.
However, advocate Saurabh Sharma said the quality of justice may suffer if the verdict is not pronounced by those involved in recording of evidence during trial.
In Jessica case, the trial was handled by three judges �� R L Chugh, Manju Goel and S L Bhayana.

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